


Evelyn Faulkenwrath and the Monster at Home

by betR2bewierd



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Child Abuse, Depression, Dissociation, Don't Judge Me, Don't Read This, F/M, Parent/Child Incest, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape, So dont judge my bad writing either, a self insert I created to deal with my issues, actual detailed rape scene nothing implied about it, also my first fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 06:13:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26468500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betR2bewierd/pseuds/betR2bewierd
Summary: (currently in the process of transferring this and other works from ffn)Evelyn Falkenrath grew up an isolated child whose parents never got along. When she goes to Hogwarts she feels like finally she can escape her disappointing home life. Then things change in a horrible way she didn't expect and couldn't handle.
Relationships: Fred Weasley/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Childhood

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally published 5 years ago on ffn. I'm slowly but surely transferring my old stories over, starting with this one, my first. It's not very well written, especially the early chapters. But I was new to writing and little and angry and this is how I decided to deal with it ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Evelyn laid in bed in her darkened bedroom, staring up at the ceiling and listening to the muffled argument seeping through her wall from her parents bedroom. She couldn't actually hear any words, but the aggressive, biting tones prodded at her, making her feel anxious and guilty.

Evelyn didn't know much about the world. She was a 10 year old witch and only child, who lived in an isolated cottage somewhere in England. What she did know is that her mother was unhappy, and had been for a long time. She knew her father was angry at her mom for being so unhappy. Evelyn thought she somewhat agreed with him. Mom didn't have any real reason to be sad. She was beautiful, married, magical, and had everything she needed to live comfortably. There were lots of things her mother could do to have fun. There was their garden to explore, the orchard over the hill, she could ride their pony, draw pictures or write stories like Evelyn did to fill up her time while father worked. What more could mother want? Laying around and being sad all the time ruined the mood for everyone else and it really wasn't fair.

Evelyn rolled over to stare at the wall instead. She was tired of this, of them arguing about everything. Arguing about her. She thought about how this fight had started, and wondered if there was something she could have done or said to prevent it.

Earlier that night, She had bounced around the fireplace in anticipation. Her father appeared in a flash of green fire and stepped out to hug his daughter.

"Hey Honey, hows my favorite girl?" Her Father asked, speaking German. Evelyn loved that she and her father could speak German, as very few people she knew did. It felt like their own private form of communication. Even her mother didn't understand.

"Do you want to help me cook? " He asked after setting her back down on the floor.

"Yeah!" she exclaimed. Her father always cooked the food, since her mom "just wasn't raised to know how" in her father's words. She was definitely going to learn to cook too. Dinner was ready soon and she felt a sense of pride at having helped make something. Once at the table, Evelyn had sat between her parents who were seated at opposite ends across from one another. She told them about her day outside riding her pony around the outside of the orchard.

" How long were you outside by yourself?" her father asked lightly.

" um, maybe a few hours." she answered

"Shouldn't you be with her when she goes out?" That one was directed at her mom.

"She's fine, Axel, She's almost eleven and quit capable of taking care of herself. She doesn't need me watching her every move." Evelyn's mom had long shiny black hair that was currently pulled up in a haphazard bun. Her grey eyes flashing with irritation.

"What if she broke her leg?"

"Axel-"

"How long would it take you to notice?"

Her mother glared angrily down at her plate, refusing to meet her husband's eyes across the table. Evelyn had kept quiet, as she usually did during their arguments, and continued eating. She was pretty good at looking after herself, she thought about saying so but decided agaisnt it. She'd finished and picked up her plate, set it in the sink and sent herself to bed without a word.

A sudden bump from the other room startled Evelyn out of her thoughts, and the voices grew a little louder and more shrill. She pulled her pillow over her head and tried to drown them out. I'll be in Hogwarts by this time next year, she thought to herself. I won't have to listen to this anymore.

Evelyn stared around the dark, dusty store with apprehension. She and her father were here today to purchase her wand. It was a bit last minute, considering she was supposed to board the train tomorrow. But her father hadn't had anytime off work until now, and for whatever reason, her mother seemed to avoid going into public places like Diagon Alley. Evelyn gazed around but couldn't see the shop keeper yet. Her father was leaning against the counter, waiting with an even patience. "Maybe he fell asleep in the back." Her father joked in German. "These are the busiest few weeks of the year for a wand store. He's pretty old."

"Did you buy your wand here?" Evelyn asked in German as well.

"No, I didn't live in England when I got my wand."

"Good afternoon." Said a voice that startled Evelyn. An old man was now standing behind the counter. His large silver eyes seemed to be studying her, and his smile seemed genuinely happy to see them here, despite feeling a little creepy.

"Afternoon, Ollivander. I need a wand for my daughter." Her father spoke in English now.

"A latecomer then. Come here miss, which is your wand arm?" Evelyn walked forward and held out her dominant hand. The next hour passed by with Ollivander handing her wands, snatching them away, objects braking, but none of the wands seemed to fit. The ecentric shop keeper never slowed, rather he seemed to enjoy the challenge her match presented. He murmured to himself every time he put away another wand. Calculating things Evelyn did not understand about core and wood combinations. Finally, he handed her a wand and she felt it. A tingling in the center of her body that told her she didn't want to let go of it ever again. She flicked it and a few silver sparks appeared before her.

"Acacia wood, phoenix feather core, 10 ½ inches, slightly bendy. A rather unique wand, I only carry a few Acacia wands at any time. They're sensitive and subtle, unsuited for bangs-and-smells magic. They will withhold their true power from all but the most gifted, but when well matched is as powerful as any other. Phoenix feather wands are also quite picky, hard to tame and personalise, but show the best range of magic. I'd say this wand has been looking for you for a very long time." Evelyn stared at her wand. The way Ollivander went on, it sounded like her wand was alive, and not in the way that a plant is alive. This object had opinions, and apparently liked her.

"Seven Galleons then." Her father cut in. Placing the gold coins on the counter. "We need to get home and finish packing." They left the shop quickly. The sun was just beginning to set and the streets of Diagon Alley were much emptier than when they started shopping. Evelyn breathed in the mild summer air. Only a few more hours and she would be on her way to Hogwarts.

Evelyn stared around in awe at all the people in Kings Cross station, she had never seen so many people in one place her entire life! Most of them had trunks and pets just like her. She held on to her father's hand nervously the whole time. Of course she had been told exactly what to expect on the train ride, the sorting, the dorms, and she had imagined it a hundred times, but being here felt incredibly surreal.

"You okay there, hun?" Evelyn looked up at her father. He was a tall, broad shouldered, handsome man with a square jaw and hazel eyes. He had flaxen hair which he had passed on to his daughter. His minimalist but good quality robes reflected his practical attitude.

"Yeah I'm okay." Evelyn replied automatically. He bent down to take her in a tight hug.

"You're going to have an amazing time." He said warmly. "I didn't go to school here, but it's the best in Europe, and your mother loved it." Her mother, who was still in bed when they left, wasn't here to agree.

"Will you write to me tonight?"

"Of course," He answered.

"And remember to take care of Sugar?"

"I wouldn't dream of letting that fat little pony be forgotten."

Evelyn smiled back at him.

Then took a deep breath, and started pulling her luggage to the train.


	2. Letters

Dear Father

I made it! And I'm a Ravenclaw, I know you didn't go to hogwarts but you remember what mom told you about the houses right? I'm in the house for smart people.  
I was surprised by what some people here are saying about moms house. She made slytherin sound completely different than any of the students here. They seem to think of it as some kind of evil peoples club. I think I might have made some friends. The girls who I share a room with are pretty nice, one of them isn't really nice but not mean either, do you know what I mean by that? They seem to know a lot about the coursework for this year already, so maybe they can help me. I'll write again soon when more interesting stuff happens

-love you, Evelyn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Evy

Darn, you couldn't have picked a more fun house?  
I'm kidding, I always knew you were smart, I'm sure you are where you belong.  
Your mom may be a little biased about her house. Ambition and cunning sometimes means carefully lying to get what you want, which seems to be why so many politicians I work with are from slytherin. Not to say they're all bad of course, I did marry one after all. I'll send you a care package soon so look out for it.

-Love, your father

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Father

Ravenclaw isn't nearly as boring as you, and everyone else, thinks it is. In the first week, some older student managed to magically rig something called a projector to play muggle movies in the common room, movies are like, well I can only explain them like if paintings decided to act out a story. It was so cool! A lot of older students have tutoring sessions where they pass on what they studied the previous year. I've gotten so much help with my studies even though I don't have anything to give back to them. Some even teach these interesting muggle concepts that we don't get to learn about in class. I've met some Ravenclaws that don't study at all, because they put all their energy into their talents. I made a friend in my dorm room named Maisie, she grew up with muggles and is one of the funniest people I know. Ravenclaw feels like a big family where everyone is helping each other be as great as they can be, I love it.

-Love Evelyn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Evelyn

I'm happy to hear you are having so much fun. I hope you can find time for your passions and homework. I have some good news as well. I've just been promoted in the Improper Use of Magic Office. It's a small step but it's worth celebrating! If I got promoted again I'd be head of the department, but I won't get ahead of myself. I never thought I'd make it here when I started all those years ago as a secretary. British wizards are pretty wary of foreigners. Especially home schooled foreigners without any OWls or NEWTs to prove credentials. I've met very few co-workers who did not attend Hogwarts. No matter, if you're doing well there you won't ever have to worry about that.

-love, you father

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Father

Of course you got promoted, once they figure out you're a hard worker and good at what you do I hardly see how N.E.W.T.s would matter. I'm still going to take them of course to be safe, but still. So far I'm pretty good at Herbology and Potions. I really like the hands on feel of those subjects, and the only time I don't do well is when I let my partner make a decision. My other classes are going okay, but none are really spectacular yet. Also, some students made fun of me for having a very muggle name. I wasn't really sure what to say. Both you and mom are wizards but I don't actually know anything about our family tree or bloodline, which seems really important to some people.

-love Evelyn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Evelyn

You don't need to worry about your bloodline and neither does anyone else. You tell that to anyone who asks, okay? Blood is talked about a lot in our society but it doesn't matter. Just do well in school and work hard and everything will be fine.

-love your father.


	3. Summer

Evelyn was on the back of Sugar, her chestnut colored, not-actually-overweight horse. Riding along the edge of the orchard next to her house. The sun was in the baby stages of descent, casting small shadows and smearing the sky with colors. The earlier sticky heat had cooled into comfortable summer weather. It was one of Evelyn's favorite things to do to be out on her horse alone. She liked to imagine she was an explorer, a magizoologist discovering new creatures. Entirely independent, living off what was in her bag and sleeping in a tent. She knew she'd have to go home soon. Before dinner was served and her parents had to come looking for her. Yet she kept riding away. She just couldn't talk herself into turning around. The peace of being alone and away from the hostile air of their household was just too pleasant.

Only a week into summer vacation and Evelyn already dearly missed her friends, being in school, not being at home.

Lost in thought, she suddenly noticed she had traveled further from her house than she'd ever had previously.

She slowed the horse down to a slow walk and examined her surroundings. She could still find her way home, but it would take longer than she was originally going to risk. She was about to turn around when she heard voices. Coming from ahead, just out of her line of site. She kicked the horse into a faster pace forward. As she turned the corner of the orchard she'd been riding along side of, she saw several kids on broomsticks in a meadow. A home stood nearby, several stories tall and looking ready to collapse. After watching a moment, she figured they must be playing quidditch.

She trotted the horse up slowly, watching the people in the sky. Closer now she noticed almost all the players had red hair, and she realized which family's house she must have just discovered. A younger girl who wasn't flying, but sitting on the ground and watching, noticed and came to greet her.

"Hi! Can I pet your horse?" Evelyn guessed she was probably about nine years old.

"Yeah, her name is Sugar. She's pretty nice." The girl, not being able to reach the horse's nose, patted it's neck instead. "I'm Ginny."

"I'm Evelyn, I live over that way." Evelyn pointed in the direction she' just came from. Ginny nodded and asked "You wanna come watch with me? They won't let me play with them because I'm little, but I'm going to be really good when I'm older, they'll see." Evelyn smiled at the shear confidence the girl said it with. "Sure." She let Sugar wonder a little ways away and the pony took the opportunity to graze, completely unfazed by the people zooming around above her.

The home made team consisted of two older boys, Evelyn struggled to remember their names, the twins who Evelyn knew were in her year, and a very small boy she guessed wasn't at Hogwarts yet.

Last year, Evelyn had only ever gone to one quidditch game. She'd been bored, and had hardly payed attention and then her house lost. It was such a grand disappointment she hadn't bothered to come to one since. "So, have you ever flown?" Evelyn asked Ginny. Trying to act a little less awkward than she felt. Although she had her few friends, she tended to feel out of place when surrounded by anybody who wasn't them. "No" the little girl said in a depressed tone.

"I didn't before going to Hogwarts. Weird at first, but it's kind of like riding a horse, you have to squeeze with your thighs and find your center of balance." Ginny's eyes lit up. "Can I ride your horse?" She eagerly asked. Evelyn thought about that. She'd been about this age when she first had lessons. She felt a little bad for the girl too, wondering how many games the boys excluded her from. "I suppose you can ride with me."

Evelyn whistled and Sugar came trotting over. Evelyn helped Ginny up first and then sat behind her. She figured with Ginny between herself and the horse's head she'd have a harder time falling off than she would if she sat behind her. "Hold on to that saddle bit there, and don't pull on her mane." Evelyn instructed and kicked Sugar into an even pace. Ginny laughed excitedly as they made a few circles around field. A moment later the boys on broomsticks came down from the air, and Evelyn noticed a short plump women standing in front of the house waving them over. Evelyn picked up the pace, deciding to drop Ginny off by the door so she'd get there before her brothers. Ginny was absolutely delighted. When they stopped beside the woman who was clearly her mother, She shouted "Did you see that mum? I went so fast!" Evelyn smiled at that. Sugar could run much, much faster when she was permitted to. Ginny carefully hopped down on her own, stumbling just a little as she landed on the ground but didn't loose any pep to her step.

"I saw, love." The women looked up at Evelyn. "Hello, dear, I'm Mrs. Weasley." She looked curiously at the blonde child who had appeared at her home. "I'm Evelyn Falkenrath, I'm kind of your neighbor." She pointed in the direction of her house. Hoping that somewhat explained her random presence. "Well it's nice to meet you. Would you like to join us dinner?"

"No, um, thank you, but I really need to go home." She glanced at the sun, which had partially set behind the trees. The boys from the field had caught up with them now. The older ones passed her by without a word and walked into their home. The twins seemed much more interested in the horse rider who had shown up in their yard out of nowhere.

"Hey"

"Who're you?"

"You should have just kept going."

"And stolen our sister."

"Then she'd stop crying at us to let her fly."

"You can have Ron too, actually."

"Hey!" The youngest boy exclaimed as he just caught up to his brothers.

Evelyn looked down at them, wondering how much conversation you can have from the back of a horse before it's considered rude to not dismount.

"You don't know her from school?" Their mother asked. They both squinted at Evelyn and said "Nope," at the same time.

"I'm in your year." Evelyn responded, hiding her impatience. They cocked their heads. "Ravenclaw." She added.

"Oh!"

"That's why."

She rolled her eyes a fraction. She didn't expect them to know her name, she wasn't the most social student. But they had a few classes together, they should recognize her face, at least.

"I need to go." Evelyn said and pulled the reins to turn sugar around.

"Come back and play with me sometime!" Ginny called after her as she started to gallop away. Maybe, Evelyn thought, if her father ever let her outside again.

The aftermath wasn't as bad as she'd thought. Yes there was yelling, but her parents had quickly turned on each other instead of centering their anger on Evelyn. She basically grounded herself to her room for the rest that night and waited. As a result, she'd fallen asleep much earlier than usual, and woke up before the sun had risen. She was also starving, having consequently missed dinner the night before. Evelyn cracked open her door and peered into the dark hallway. She didn't see anybody. She couldn't hear anybody. She silently stepped out and started to make her way to the kitchen.

"What are you doing up?"

Evelyn almost jumped out of her skin. As she had passed the entrance to the sitting room, she hadn't seen her father sitting on one of the couches. He was still in the clothes he'd been wearing last night. He slouched, and frowned at her. But he didn't look angry.

"I was hungry…" Evelyn started. She didn't know if she was still in trouble or not.

"Come sit for a minute." He commanded.

Evelyn sat on a armchair next to the couch. She faced him and waited. He sighed deeply.

"Your mother has left."

Evelyn blinked. Where would her mother go at an hour like this? She just about never left the house.

"It's not because of you, or the fight we had tonight. It's because-well, a lot of things." His voiced cracked a small bit when he said the last part. He leaned his head back, staring up at the ceiling. When he spoke again, he was more steady.

"We've had too many unresolved issues, and I think she reached her breaking point." Understanding dawned on Evelyn. She was surprised and, what else? She didn't actually know what to feel. She continued to sit in silence.

"Again, she didn't leave because of you, darling. She loves you. I'm pretty sure she only stayed this long for you. But you're older now, and so independent…" He trailed off. The young witch stared at her father. Now she noticed his eyes tinged with red. He looked older, and tired. Like a man who'd just lost a long battle.

Several minutes of silence passed.

With nothing else left to say, Evelyn told her father goodnight, giving him a tight hug, trying to say everything she couldn't with words. Then went back to bed. Her hunger gone. Like many nights, she stayed awake staring into the darkness. Her thoughts to loud to let her sleep, her mind too tired to really think.

Evelyn returned to the Weasley's many times that summer. Too soon she realized that the empty silence in her household could be just as oppressive as the constant tension it replaced. Her father returned to work as if nothing had happend. Maybe because he hated the silence as much as she did, or maybe he needed the consistency of the one thing he did well.

She started staying for dinner when invited now, since her father usually worked late. Mr. Weasley had been visibly surprised when she first introduced herself to him. "I never knew Mr. Falkenwrath had a daughter. Well, it's a pleasure to meet you!" and he smiled genuinely and told her a few work stories where her father had saved him a lot of trouble with superiors and about him generally being a good person. Evelyn knew from her father's own stories and comments that Mr. Weasley didn't get very much respect at the ministry. With his open fascination of muggle artifacts and lack of wealth. But he seemed kind and welcomed her into his home, She decided she rather liked him.

Evelyn continued to play and talk with Ginny, and she imagined this is probably what it was like to have a sister. The younger girl had different interests than her and the conversations they had were nothing like what Evelyn had with her school friends. But the company was appreciated all the same. Evelyn taught Ginny how to ride her horse, and very soon she felt confident enouph to let the young girl ride alone. Evelyn was incredibly proud, no doubt, this would probably help her learn to ride a broom later. She'd be quidditch star like her brothers for sure, and Evelyn thought she might actually start attending games again.

The boys got use to her presence. One night, when the whole family was sitting in the parlor, Ron asked her why she never went home. Evelyn was sat on the floor, since there wasn't enouph couch space for everyone. Ginny laid on her belly, leaned against Evelyn's leg. She just had shrugged, and said it was boring at home. "Must be awful if it makes this place look fun." One of the twins joked from the couch. Evelyn grinned. "I don't have any siblings, so there's nobody to talk to until dad gets home. I use to not be aloud to ride Sugar either if nobody else was home, because he was worried I'd fall off and brake a leg. I mean, you can only read for so many hours at a time before you just need something else to do. Also, I can't even use magic when I'm home alone because my dad would know immediately because of where he works!"

"What? your not allowed to do magic at home?" One of the twins asked.

"Nope, technically neither are you, but I can't avoid getting caught." She leaned back on her arms. "I don't even get to keep my wand in the summer, dad takes it and keeps it somewhere out of my reach. "

"That sucks!" The other twin proclaimed in indignation on her behalf.

"Well, considering his position at the ministry, it be really embarrassing for him if his daughter got caught braking the law he is in charge of." Percy added. "It be like if you got caught flying the car."

Mr. Weasley started coughing suspiciously. Evelyn giggled and decided she would pretend to not have heard that.

"What about your mum?" Asked Ginny.

A short moment of silence. "Don't got one." Evelyn answered simply, looking ahead of her at nothing in particular. Of course the little girl was too young to pick up on the subtle implication that Evelyn didn't have a mom. She was sure the others had, but hadn't asked out of politeness. That social rule also escaped Ginny.

"Why not?"

Evelyn was silent again. She'd tensed up slightly, she noticed, and consciously tried to loosen her shoulder muscles. She'd been vague on purpose, hoping that they would assume her mom was dead, because she really didn't want to explain her parents separation.

"Ginny darling, time to go wash up and get ready for bed." Mrs. Weasley to the rescue. Ginny wined a little bit but got up anyways. Evelyn stood up as well, taking this moment to say a quick goodnight and mumble something about how she needed to get home before dark. Before she could exit the house, stopped her in the kitchen.

"You know Evelyn, I'd like to talk to your father about connecting our floos, since you come over so often anyways." Evelyn creased her brow but nodded at the older man. She wasn't sure why he was telling her this, if it was her father he wanted to ask.

"And If you ever need anything, you can just come over and ask us, okay?" Evelyn nodded again without saying anything. She bit her tongue anxiously, hating the attention she was getting even if she did appreciate what he was offering. He smiled and patted her real quick on the shoulder.

Later that night, Evelyn relayed Mr. Weasley's suggestion to her father and he agreed. They'd set up the floo soon so she could use it for the rest of the summer. Evelyn noticed he was still wearing his wedding ring, almost a month after her mother had abandoned them both without a word. She wondered how long he would continue to wear it, and if he was wearing it to lie to himself or everyone else about what was happening in the Falkenwrath household.


	4. Father

Axel Falkenrath was a great many things. A polite person might say he was private, easy to get along with, and a reliable worker. A suspicious person would say he was secretive, too agreeable to be honest, and that he had somehow weaseled his way into a job he didn't deserve. When Axel had first joined the Ministry as a secretary in the Improper Use Of Magic Office, they had been understaffed and in such desperate need of help that they were willing to hire even him, this young, foreign wizard with no OWLs, no NEWTs, and a garbled, thick accent to boot. Axel was sure that the wizard who hired him had never intended for him to stay long. Few of the underpaid, overworked employees in the bottom tier did. Eventually they would find some other job that paid about as well didn't require so much grind and abuse.

But nobody can predict everything.

Axel arrived on time or early everyday, met and became friends with every secretary, maintenance worker, and desk attendant. He memorized the layout of the entire Ministry building, no small feet, and completed every menial task sent his way to the best of his ability, without complaint. He was every bit that German stereotype, but it seemed to be what the department needed right now. Years passed, and his coworkers came to heavily rely on his consistency and support. Axel came to realize now, that he had value. If he was fired, his department would suffer for it. The Improper Use of Magic Office never ceased to be busy, and no matter how understaffed, disorganized and chaotic it got, the office would have to keep going on. If he was left, it would be his coworkers and boss who would really take a hit.

This was illustrated very clearly one day when he was asked to stay late, after all his normal duties had been finished. Because his boss was staying late, working on his own backed up paperwork, and wanted a hand fixing his self made mistake.

"No."

"What?" His boss asked, confused more than angry.

"I've finished my work for the day, and believe it or not I have a life outside of this place. If it's still an issue tomorrow I will be glad to help, but tonight I'm going home." He spoke matter of factually and without aggression. It might not have seemed like a big deal, but many others in Axel's position would have been tempted to stay, despite having no obligation to do so simply to stay on their bosses good side. Refusing always presented a risk of being fired, even though, technically this was a favor and not part of his job description.

His boss frowned, eyebrows slightly knit in displeasure. "That's fine, I suppose. Just make sure to get here on time tomorrow." Saying so was unnecessary. He had never been late to work. Axel simply nodded in agreement and left for home.

He made sure he would use this newfound power sparingly. He did not want his coworkers to see him as some self important ass. So he continued to do the grueling work of secretary, and do it effectively, efficiently and without complaint. But he also occasionally made suggestions to his higher ups when they came upon a hard decision. Axel turned out to be a surprisingly good problem solver, and when he didn't have a solution to suggest, he knew of another worker who might. He always made sure to phrase it his suggestions in a tone that said "y'know, just an idea, I mean i'm just the guy bringing coffee what do I know? But since none of you know what to do about it I figured I just share this thought. Ignore me if you feel like it I don't mind."

But it didn't matter how invaluable he was, he still made a secretary's salary, the same salary he made when he first arrived at the ministry several years ago. His daughter was growing, and while he knew now that she couldn't care less about wearing worn out clothes, playing in the mud instead of with toys, and reading the same three books over and over again, eventually she would be going to school, and he would need to buy her new robes, a wand, spell books...

He got anxious just thinking about it. He would need a raise sometime in the foreseeable future. But secretaries did not get a raise just for being a good secretary. He would have to get a promotion if he wanted to earn more money.

His opportunity came one day when his own boss got the boot for some bad oversights, simply not getting some crucial things done, and generally pissing off his superiors badly. Axel had prepared a speech, practiced it, and practiced it again as he walked towards the door to the office of his boss's boss. He knocked on the door of the office of the head of the Improper Use of Magic Department. A sweet, yet sharp "come in" answered and he stepped into a blindingly pink, girlish room. It decorated with plates with pictures of kittens on the walls and a large desk in the middle covered with a lacy table cloth, behind it false windows showed a gloriously sunny day.

The women he came to speak with stood beside her desk, smiling sweetly at him as she waited for him to announce the reason for his visit.

He started with pleasantries. "Madam Umbridge, I hope you are well this morning?" She eyed him, still smiling that sweet smile, however, now she also had a quit aggressive look in her eyes.

"Quit well, thank you, can I help you with anything?" She tilted her head. So straight to the point then. He thought. She was very short, and the childish nature of her dress had always made Axel uncomfortable. He hadn't had much reason to interact with Dolores Umbridge directly in the past, but from the few times he observed her at work, he knew she was ruthless.

"I was wondering if you had found someone to fill Trever's place?" He didn't sound as confident as he had when he practiced this.

"Oh, I had a few in mind," She turned away from him to pace a bit in front of her desk. "But why do you want to know?."

Of course, she knew why.

" I wanted to come and make a case for myself to take his position, after all, I've been doing almost all of his work for him for the past year, I know what the job entails and I know how to do it. The few times I did not do his job for him these past months are the very decisions that got him fired. I had recommended against these decisions when they were initially made, but of course, I had no authority to prevent him from doing what he wanted. If I take his place, not only will I be able to do his job better than he did, but I will also be able to continue much of my old job, and we would not need to bring in a new, inexperienced secretary to take my place."

There it was, his main argument.

Umbridge looked thoughtful for a moment.

"sit," she ordered pointing her wand at one of the chairs in front of her desk. Axil did as he was told. Trying the whole time to not seem too nervous or confident.

Umbridge sat behind her desk and summoned a hot teapot and two dainty little teacups decorated with pink roses and gold trimming. Axil wondered absently to himself where she had been keeping the tea before she summoned it. When one of the cups placed itself in front of him he politely thanked her and took a small sip. He wasn't a fan of tea, but in Britain it seemed you were just sometimes required to drink it.

"I've heard much about you." Umbridge started, predatory smile still plastered to her face. "But I don't feel as if we've properly met before. Where are you from? Mr. Falkenrath?"

Umbridge was infamous for being prejudice against many things. He hoped foreign wizards were not among them. "Germany." He answered evenly. His accent had improved a great deal since that first interview years ago. He tried extra hard to hide it now.

"I see, and you were never sent to Hogwarts?"

"No, I was educated at home by my mother and father."

Umbridge nodded. "So they are both magical, yes?"

So this is where this was going. Axel had had a prepared answer for the pure blood question for a long time and had yet to need to use it.

"Yes, you'll have to forgive me, German wizards do not keep such long, detailed records of their genealogy as the British do. Both my parents, and all of my grandparents, were magical. I'm about as pure-blood as a non-British wizard could be."

Umbridge nodded again, this time with a look of sympathy on her face. " Well, Mr. Falkenwrath, we can't help what we're born with, some of us were just born to be better. You've done well though, for someone of your circumstance. " Axel did not know how to react, so he just gave a curt nod.

"You've got the job. No doubt you will probably do better than that half-blood who applied. Congratulations, you'll officially start first thing tomorrow morning." She smiled wider as Axel thanked her, said goodbye and left her office. He was over the moon about getting the job, but he also felt a bit disgusted. Sick. Like he'd just ate a lot of extremely sweet candy that coated his teeth and throat in thick guilt. Umbridge had picked him over one other candidate based on blood instead of hard work or competence.

He hoped he would never have to actually prove his heritage in the future. He'd be in trouble then. Axel tried hard to shake those thoughts and instead looked forward to going home and telling his wife about his promotion.


	5. Winter

When Evelyn went back to Hogwarts for her second year, she didn't talk to the Weasleys much, despite having spent a majority of her summer at their house. It's not like they were ignoring one another, but the change of environment made them go back to old habits. Besides, Evelyn had been closest to Ginny, and she still wasn't a student yet.

That's why it was a bit of a surprise to her, and a shock to her friends, when the twins approached them randomly one day while she was eating lunch at the Ravenclaw table.

"Our sister wants you to write to her."

"She didn't tell us to tell you that."

"Actually she definitively told us not to tell you that."

"But we believe honesty is the best policy."

"Sometimes." The one who had just talked winked at her. Was that Fred? She had started being able to pick out small differences between them during the summer, freckles, moles, one of the had a dimple on the right side of their smile, one had it on the left. But which twin had what she hadn't quit gotten yet.

"Okay...Fred?" She responded. squinting at his face, which had cracked into a big smile.

"How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess, if we're being honest right now. But yeah, I'll write Gin soon. I should have thought about doing that already but..." She shrugged. She didn't have a reason really, she just hadn't written any letters at all in ages and forgot it was something she could do.

They walked off and her friends barraged her questions.

"Since when are you friends with Fred and George?" Maisie asked. It was fair question, since the twins were very popular, and well, she wasn't.

"I'm not, they're just my neighbors." Evelyn said.

"Since when?"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Can I stay at your place next summer?"

Now it was Christmas break. Evelyn's Thirteenth birthday was tonight, just a few days before Christmas. She was bouncing around around her kitchen, having baked her own cake and was now attempting to cook dinner. She didn't exactly cook often, but she use to help her dad a lot and had a few recipes memorized from experience. Even if it wasn't amazing, her father would always appreciate a hot meal he didn't have to prepare himself.

It had been snowing for days, and Evelyn watched it come down through the window above her kitchen sink. She had a good view of the barn from here, and hoped that she had piled enough extra hay in it to keep Sugar fed. The barn was enchanted to keep her pet warm and dry, at least. But Evelyn still worried.

From the other room, she heard the fireplace spark to life and then her fathers voice a moment later.

"You decided to cook?" He asked, sliding into German after a day of speaking careful English.

"Yeah, I wanted to see if I remembered how. I'm almost done if you want to sit." He did.

"You look so grown up now, Evy." He remarked, leaning back in his chair and watching her. She beamed and continued to cook. Her fathered seemed worn out, like he usually was. But tonight he was quite, watching her with a contemplative look, bright blue eyes hazed over as if he was thinking of other things and other people far away from the present.

"Since your so grown up, how about a drink?" Her father offered. Standing up and walking over to a cabinet.

"What?" asked Evelyn, surprised.

"To celebrate your birthday, your grades, life." He grinned. "I know I could use one."

"Okay." Evelyn said excitedly. She was a responsible and well behaved kid. So if her father thought she deserved to drink then she didn't think she should argue. She finished cooking and made up her and her father's plates, then set them down on the table while her father was fetching glasses.

"You'd probably like this the best." He said, bringing over a pink champagne bottle. " It's sweet and won't actually taste like alcohol much." He poured the bubbly liquid into a slender, elegant looking glass that made Evelyn feel quite fancy. She cautiously took a sip. Previously, her only experience with alcohol had been a sip of wine stolen from her mother's glass when she was younger and thought it was juice. It had been awful and bitter and she had spit it out on the floor, much to her mother's disdain. She could still taste the alcohol in this but it was subtle, it mostly tasting like some kind of strawberry soda.

" It's alright." She told her father

"I told you, it's a little too sweet for me, but we've had this bottle unopened in there for a good while. A woman from work gave it to me."

"What women?" Evelyn asked. Taking one more drink and then starting on her food.

" Some fat, pink little woman who has the hots for me." Her father responded in a joking tone, brushing the hair out of his face." She didn't seem to notice me before my promotion though."

Evelyn giggled. The meal went on and Evelyn talked about her friends, and school. She finished her glass and was happy when her father poured her a second one. By now, she'd started feeling some slight effects and thought oh, this is why adults like to drink. She drank a little more enthusiastically hoping that it would make the bubbly feeling last longer. Full from the meal, they decided to wait for cake and continued talking about anything and everything. Evelyn stood up and was shocked at how suddenly she felt much drunker, the room, which had been fine just a second ago, spun before her eyes. He clutched her chair and willed herself not to fall down.

"You okay hon?" Her father asked, smiling down at her.

"Little dizzy" she replied.

"Ah, that can happen, you drank too much." He stood up and walked over to her. Placing his strong hands on either arm, steadying his daughter. "I'll help you to bed so you can sleep it off."

Evelyn nodded and let him walk her to her bedroom. Once there, she flopped down on her bed, grateful the feeling that she might fall was gone. Her father turned on a lamp next to her bed with a flick of his wrist. Then bent down and began pulling her sweatshirt off. Oh, so I'll be more comfortable she thought. He put one knee on the bed and loomed over her.

"You know Evelyn, you're really beautiful." He then climbed all the way onto the bed with his body above her. Evelyn was somewhat confused, but didn't say anything. It wasn't until her shirt was off, leaving just her bra showing and her started for her pants that she started to feel extremely uneasy. "Dad…?" He said nothing as he pulled her pants off of her. "Dad!" She said again, more panicked.

"I need you to do something for me," Her father said.

" I think you're old enough, and mature enough to handle this." He rested a hand on her bare thigh gently. "Don't struggle, that will make it hurt." He moved his hands up to the hem of her underwear and pulled them down and off. She was frozen in fear, Her heart pounded and she felt as if her stomach and chest were full of ice. She wished she had her wand.

He reached up under her back then to unclasp her bra and pull it off her shoulders. She immediately covered her chest with her arms. Evelyn squeezed her eyes shut when he pulled her arms away from her chest and pinned them to the side of her body. He spread her legs and she felt something brush up against her body. She squirmed despite his warning. She couldn't help it, this was a place she wasn't use to being touched and it was all so overwhelming.

He grabbed her hips and pulled her whole body closer to him in one precise motion.

There was suddenly pain between her legs and she cried out, her father's weight was crushing her. She heard him let out a deep sigh before he began to move. Evelyn's mind went blank as she tried to process what was happening through the haze of the alcohol. He moaned and panted as he thrust into her and she tried not to make any noise at all. With a final moan she felt him suddenly tense and hold himself against her. Then it was over and her father left the room. Evelyn didn't move for a long time before she finally got under her comforter. She didn't sleep until early morning when she heard her father leave for work.

"What?" Evelyn asked, confused. Maisie had just said something to her but she had been staring out the window paying no attention to her surroundings.

" I said what's going on? You haven't spoken a word since the train ride started."

Evelyn looked away from her friend. "Nothing."

"Oookay, just nothing then." Maisie looked irritable. "Tell me later when you feel like being less of a mysterious loner." She turned back to Rachel and continued telling her about Christmas with her family. Evelyn sighed and returned to looking out the window. She had no idea how to talk about something like this and the idea alone made her recoil. Once it was said, it couldn't be taken back, it would change what she was and she didn't want that. No, she didn't want anything to change, she wanted things to stay as similar to what they were before as possible.

Once back at school, everyone settled into their dorm and went down to the mess hall to eat. Evelyn stayed behind in her room to avoid talking to anyone. She sat on her bed instead with her notebooks and sketchpads out. Writing and drawing turned out to be pretty good distractions. She'd been a vicarious writer, in the long boring days before the Weasleys. Those stories had been a result of reading to much and being alone with nothing but an overflowing imagination. She had showed them to no one except her mother.

But these days she'd write for hours, without food or water, and she tended to not use the restroom till the last possible second. This was definitely not healthy. But she had to admit she did feel proud of her productivity, and concentrating on these imaginary people was so much better than thinking about herself.

Then she started writing her stories instead of class notes. In History of magic, Charms, and definitely in Arithmancy, a class she only took because her friends did, and then discovered was just awful. She didn't dare do this in potions, knowing exactly how unforgiving and strict Snape was, and how she wouldn't stand a chance in the brewing part of the class if she didn't pay attention in the note taking part. McGonagall had put a stop to it in her classroom quickly. Noticing how her pupil continued writing frantically even when she stopped talking. She'd walked behind Evelyn quietly to peer over her shoulder at the page.

"Mrs. Falkenrath, I'm sure your personal project is more interesting than transfiguration but I'm afraid you will not be tested on how well you can tell a good story." She flicked her wand and the notebook went zooming to her desk. "Ten points from Ravenclaw. See me after class and you may have it back." Evelyn's face burned with embarrassment and she tried not to catch the eye of any of her classmates.

At the end of the class, Evelyn waited until most of the other students had left before approaching the severe looking Gryffindor professor.

"Mrs. Falkenrath, this isn't the worst thing I've ever caught a student doing in my classroom but nonetheless I will not tolerate it. The next time I catch you it will be detention. Are we clear?" Evelyn nodded and McGonagall handed over the notebook.

The rest of the year carried on in much the same vein. Evelyn's grades dropped across all of her subjects. She kept up passing grades in most classes but quit a few she just gave up on. She skipped meals often, preferring to snack in her room instead, then she started skipping classes. At first she was smart about it, skipping just History of magic because she knew in all likelihood the ghost of a teacher would never notice. Then she missed Herbology once, coming up with some clever excuse, since Evelyn had been a perfect student in the past, professor Sprout let it slide.

Evelyn's friends seemed to notice the change, but anytime they tried to gently bring up the subject, Evelyn would shut the conversation completely ignoring them while they talked to her. Eventually they stopped trying.

"Are you coming to class or what?" Maisie asked one day, hands on her hips, standing up beside Evelyn and looking down at her disapprovingly. Evelyn said nothing, and Maisie threw her hands up exasperated. " What the fuck, why are you acting like this all of a sudden? You're going to fail every class and then be stuck at home with your parents for the rest of your life. " She turned, grabbed her books, and exited the room leaving Evelyn alone with herself. Maisie was right, Evelyn knew, but she didn't have it in her to pick herself up from her bed and go to class. She drew the curtains around her bed and fell asleep on top of the blanket.

Skipping transfiguration was a mistake. Evelyn knew this before she did it. Now she stood in front of Professor Mcgonagall's desk after class once more. "So kind of you to bless us with your presence this time." Mcgonagall commented with a slight edge in her voice. "Do you have any excuse as to why you were not here last time?" She asked. Evelyn shook her head, she knew better than to lie in this situation, and she wasn't going to say she just couldn't get out of bed.

Mcgonagall sighed. "Mrs. Falkenrath, is there something you would like to tell me?" Evelyn looked at her professor, confused. " This transgression was sudden, you never skipped class before, you don't sit with your friends anymore and I've been talking to the other professors about you-" Evelyn clenched her jaw, she really didn't like the idea of all the teachers paying her extra attention, "and they've noticed a change too." She looked her student in the eye. " If there is something bothering you, you can talk to me or your head of house, you are aware of that, right?" Evelyn nodded.

" And please at least do me the service of a vocal response."

"...Yes ma'am."

"You will serve detention every night for the remainder of this week, understand?"

"Okay."

"You may go now."

Evelyn left the classroom wondering if so much detention was the norm for something like this. She'd never actually served detention before, but as irritable as she felt she couldn't argue that she didn't deserve it. She wandered off vaguely in the direction of her next class.

Turns out, what McGonagall had in mind for detention was forcing Evelyn to sit down and do all of her homework from every class. She felt a little relieved, she'd heard other students talk about having to do things like clean cauldrons and write lines. McGonagall definitely was talking to the other professors, because she seemed to know about all of her late and current assignments. On the third detention, she was joined by the Weasley twins They were stuck dusting and cleaning the room without their wands, which were locked in McGonagall's desk. They must have really pissed her off. Evelyn thought to herself. When McGonagall left the room ten minutes into detention for some errand, both twins immediately stopped working to talk.

"We really messed up this time, brother."

"I'd say you're right. Should have checked the map before ambushing those Slytherins. "

"Wouldn't have had time. I'm just glad you gave that one with the stupid face what he had coming to him." They both grinned at each other, paying Evelyn no mind. She was done with her assignment now and listened in curiously. The twins various pranks were talked about a lot, but they didn't usually get caught.

"So what did you do?" Evelyn jumped at suddenly being spoken to.

"Oh, um, I didn't go to class." She responded, glancing between the two because she couldn't tell which one had just spoke.

" A Ravenclaw, skiving off?" said George (maybe), he made an exaggerated gasp noise.

Evelyn shrugged, not sure what else she could say.

"Hey," said Fred (probably). "You still have your wand on you?" Evelyn looked at him curiously and nodded.

"Could you maybe clean this for us? Before she gets back?" Evelyn thought about it. She might end up with more detention if she got caught, but did she even care?

"Alright," she said, "But I won't do it too well, or else she'll know it wasn't you." Evelyn silently said the cleaning charm in her mind, and the shelves were all instantly, but not perfectly dusted. "Wicked!" said one of the Gryffindor brothers. "Thanks." added the other one.

It was a few minutes until McGonagall returned and the twins swiftly got back to pretending to work hard.

"Professor, I've finished all my work, what should I do now?" Evelyn asked, gathering her papers into a stack.

"For tonight you can go, tomorrow I'll give you the essay everyone else is going to get Monday. You can get a head start and maybe keep up with your classes for a while after that." The tone wasn't exactly condescending in a way that Evelyn could detect, but she knew the professor had to be criticizing her. Evelyn felt a familiar sense of shame as she made to leave.

"Well, you could have done a better job of it. But I dare say this is good enough for tonight. You may go as well and I should see all of you again tomorrow." McGonagall said to the twins, who practically sprinted out of the room behind Evelyn.

"Hey! Thanks for that." Said one twin, falling into step next to her.

"Yeah, we should keep you around in case we ever need your assistance again." Said the other, walking on her other side.

"Why? do you plan to get in trouble again?" She asked, frowning.

"Things happen, it might be nice to have an eagle on our side."

"I'm not helping you with your homework." She said automatically. That was usually what students from other houses thought when they made friends with a Ravenclaw.

"No, I'd say you seem to be having a hard enough time of that on your own." one of the boys responded. She stopped walking abruptly and fixed him with a harsh stare.

"So are you here just to criticize me? Huh? As if I'm not getting enough of that from EVERYbody else!" Evelyn's felt a sudden small surge of adrenaline, she also felt like she was about to cry. She didn't know what was possessing her. She'd hardly felt any emotion for months besides a non ending tiredness, or embarrassment because of a teacher chewing her out. Now though, the faucet was on and she couldn't turn it back.

"But I'M just trying my best! And it's not as great as my best use to be but I can't- I just," She stopped talking then. Tears were flowing down her cheeks. She wasn't about to tell these boys why she was doing so bad, so why bother saying anything? Both twins looked incredibly uncomfortable and surprised. They must think she was crazy. Evelyn turned away from them and walked quickly down the hall while trying to wipe her face. They didn't walk after her.


	6. Runaway

As agonizing as it was being in school these days, Evelyn was not looking forward to the rapidly approaching summer break. Her 2nd year hadn't ended in a bang but with a silent agitated wimper. She pulled her grades back up enouph to keep from drowning. But not enouph to ward off concerned looks her teachers gave her of the corner of their expressions. She wondered how long she would have to keep consistent mediocre grades before they forgot about her 'behavioral transgression' and accepted this as the new norm.

It was ironic how, with that turn of events, Snape became her favorite professor. Favorite was probably the wrong word, because she didn't like him. But if he noticed anything wrong with her behavior in the last half of the year, he didn't show it. That was just it. He didn't act any differently than before. He ignored her and left her to work, occasionally snapping out a biting critique when she messed up, and silent subtle approval when she did well. Potions became a sort of safe haven where she could disappear into work without the feeling of anybody looking over her shoulder.

The only issue with potions was partners. Most of the Ravenclaws in her year had silently shunned her. She got bad grades, lost her house points, and refused to socialize with anyone. She didn't even blame them, really.

Slytherins treated her about as coldly as they treated everyone outside of their house. Some of the meaner ones would wispier nasty things to her as they both bent over the cauldron. Things about her family she didn't understand. Her mother was a blood traitor, her father was a foreign criminal who weaseled his way into his position. Evelyn never responded, she'd clench her jaw and continue to stir. She was in their territory after all, and did not want to attract the attention of the strictest teacher in the school, she'd lost enough points this year.

Really it was too bad they didn't have potions with either Gryffndors or Hufflespuffs.

It was very early in the morning and Evelyn was sitting in a half hidden spot in the library. Blueish light flooded in from the windows, and dust specs could be seen flying thickly where the light touched. She often got up early these days, finding it the easiest way to eat breakfast while avoiding her ex-friends and the rest of the school. The library was almost always empty at this time, and often felt like a world separate. Ignored by those who had better things to do than inhale dust and learn something not strictly required by their education. She was trying to draw, but all she managed to do was make a couple graphite marks on the paper and stare at it. She couldn't concentrate. She was wondering what she was going to do when she got home in a few days. She'd been thinking about it a lot lately, and she had come to the conclusion that she had 3 options.

1) Go home, accept her fate.

2) Report to the authorities.

She'd looked up a book on law in the library. Prepared with a lie that she was interested in working in the ministry when she was older if anyone asked (nobody did). There was no way that could happen without leading to a whole procedure in court, where she would have to tell the story in front of an entire room full of people, people he knew. Considering he was a prominent Ministry employee the story would be huge, appearing in the paper for people to tsk about. What a shame, can you believe that? Poor dear. Just like all the tragic stories that appeared in the paper, secretly designed to entertain the public with only minor shallow concern shown for the subjects. The thought of all this alone made Evelyn feel sick and dizzy. No, this wasn't a real option.

3) Runaway.

All she had to do was not get caught until it was time to go back to school. If she got on the back of her horse and ran as fast as she could, she could put a pretty large bit of distance between herself and the house before her dad even got home from work and noticed. Maybe it'd be like those fantasies she's always had, of being a magizoologist in the field. The more she thought about it, the more she liked this option. After all, they had a tent in the closet, the kind enchanted to be bigger than it looked, with cooling and warming charms to keep its occupants comfortable. Food would be a problem, eventually. But if she carried as much supplies as she could fit on the back of the horse, she'd last a pretty good while. She turned over her failed drawing attempt and started listing supplies.

* * *

The first day of summer was ending, and the Weasley household was gathering in the general area of the kitchen, ready to eat dinner soon. Mrs. Weasley was cooking. Bill had recently moved out, and Charlie and the twins were talking to their father at the table, while Ron sat nearby, listening to a conversation he couldn't really contribute to, but he liked feeling like one of the men anyways. Percy was in the Parlor reading, and Ginny was laying on the floor on her stomach. She was lazily playing with a doll that was a gift from her friend and neighbor. The doll was wearing a hand stitched quidditch outfit and holding a broom made of twigs. At the moment it was probably her most cherished possession. Ginny had been disappointed when her friend hadn't shown up on the first day, but she tried to be patient, as patient as a 9 year old could be anyways. There was the rest of summer for her and Evelyn to play together.

There was a distinct cracking noise, followed by a knock on the door. Ginny sat up and watched from her spot in the parlor. Mr. Weasley looked confused a moment before he stood up to answer it.

"Oh!, Good evening, Mr. Falkenwrath, what can I do for you?" Ginny couldn't see who was in the door from here, but Falkenwrath was Evelyn's last name, she remembered.

"Is my daughter here?"

"No..."

A sharp exhale and then. "Can I come in for a moment?"

When he did, Ginny was surprised. Her own father was tall, but this man matched his height and had shoulders twice as broad. Standing up straight, with a hard scowl on his face, he was downright scary. Even despite that, Ginny could tell he was good looking. He just had one of those jawlines that men on the cover of witch weekly had. His eyes were bright blue, framed by long lashes that did nothing to take away from his masculinity. He had strong brows that were knit together in concentrated worry, and his hair was a lovely golden blonde color, just like his daughter.

The men exchanged a few murmured words, and Mr. Weasley promptly told his sons to go upstairs, much to Percy's disappointment. He probably wanted to introduce himself to the prominent Ministry man who had shown up on their doorstep. But now was really not the time. Ginny had started to follow her brothers when her father called her over. She shuffled over sheepishly, her father had and encouraging smile on her face, but she could tell this was going to be a serious conversation by the look in all three adults eyes.

"Sweetie, when was the last time you heard from Evelyn?" Her father started.

"I got a letter from her a month ago." Ginny responded.

"Did she say anything about leaving? Or going somewhere?"

"No." She glanced between them, wondering if she had said the right thing.

"It wouldn't really make sense if she had, but..." Evelyn's Father said, not looking at any of them. He was holding his knuckles to his lips, his other hand clutching his elbow. Jaw clenched, he looked a bit like he was resisting the urge to bite his fingernails.

"Are you sure she left and isn't simply lost?" Mrs. Weasley spoke up for the first time, hands squeezing one another, she looked as scared as if one of her own children was missing.

Mr. Falkenwrath shook his head." She left a note telling me she'd come back when school started. " He had laughed halfheartedly after saying it, then his expression fell back into the worry-concealing panic that it had been. "She took our tent, so she should be comfortable tonight... " There was a short silence.

"Maybe you could ask Fred and George?" Ginny suggested. "They're in the same year."

Mr. Weasley looked thoughtful, "We might as well I suppose, although I never got the impression they talked much. "

Now, any self proclaimed trouble maker with an ounce of pride would have listened in to a serious conversation after being told to get out. So naturally, Fred and George were crouching at the top of the stairs. What was more surprising was that this time they were joined not only by Ron, but also Percy. Charlie was the only one not making an effort to listen in, but he leaned against a wall in the hallway, and wasn't making an effort to not overhear the conversation downstairs either.

When they were called downstairs, they said the same thing as Ginny, that they hadn't spoken to her in while and had no idea where she went.

Mr. Falkenwrath accepted their answer. "Alright, thank you." He said to the children. Turning to their parents. "Just, let me know if she turns up around here, I'm going to look for her tomorrow..." They nodded and of course, they'd tell him if they saw her. Then Mr. Falkenwrath left.

Dinner was finally served, and all the Weasley children wanted to talk about was what was happening to their neighbors.

"Why would she runaway?" Asked Ginny.

"She's probably just mad at her dad for some reason, Gin." Charlie answered her.

"Yeah, he doesn't even let her keep her wand." Ron added.

"That's none of our business." Mr. Weasley warned.

"It's not a good reason to runaway either." Added Percy.

"How far do you think she can get on a horse in one day?" Fred asked no one in particular.

"I'd bet a galleon that she didn't go far at all." Charlie said. "People are creature of habit just like most animals. She's probably in the woods somewhere close. Probably near a stream too so the horse can drink."

"We should look for her tomorrow." Said Ginny.

"You gonna go stomping through the woods by yourself?" George asked sardonically.

"We could use brooms..." Ginny pouted.

"it's a lovely idea Gin, but I'd rather your brothers handle it." Mrs. Weasley patted her daughters back.

"And I'd rather not be sent out to ruin somebody else fun, that's more Percy's style." Said Fred. "Shes not gonna die Gin, relax."

Mrs. Weasley fixed him with a hard stare. It made him want to sink down into his seat, but he resisted.

"What I want to know is how she thinks she can last a whole summer out in the wilderness." Said Mrs. Weasley. " She's a smart girl, I hope she realizes soon how foolish this is and goes home."

* * *

So far, Evelyn was having the time of her life.

The night before, she had lain in bed awake, all night. She had a sick, excited feeling in her body as she thought about her bag, which was packed and tucked away under the bed. After the sun rose, and she heard her father leave for work, she sprung from the covers and dressed, grabbed her bags, the tent from the hallway closet, ran to the barn and saddled Sugar.

She didn't know how long she would get away with this, if it would really work. But as the wind was whipping her hair and the cottage vanishing behind her as her horse ran full speed, she'd never felt such a thrill.

Veering off the dirt rode as soon as possible, she found her way into a wooded area a few miles from home. The density of the trees and brush made her feel shielded, so she decided to set camp there for the night.

Setting up the tent was much harder than she had imagined. Having never gone camping before. Why did they even own this thing? But eventually she got it upright, and magic took care of the rest. She'd chosen a spot between a large tree and a thick bush. It would be difficult to see until you were right in front of it. Perfect. The inside was just one (albeit very large) bedroom with a full sized bed, couch, chest of drawers, and several rugs for added coziness.

Last night had been filled with restless sleep, and a repeating nightmare that she'd suddenly been found. Her fathers fury burning the tent and everything around it. But that didn't happen. She woke up at dawn hungry and sore. Most people would be surprised that horseback riding actually worked your body. Her thighs and back both ached, but she didn't care. Right now, she was more concerned with figuring out how to start fire. Matches are not a thing most wizards keep in their household. Why would they if they could easily make a small fire with a flick of their wands? So for now, Evelyn would not be cooking. She ate an apple and some bread that she packed. She was still a little hungry, but she had practice with skipping meals and going forward anyways.

She spent the next few hours wandering the woods until she found a stream and stopped to let Sugar have a drink and a snack. She hopped down and sat on the grassy bank. She wasn't quit sure what she was supposed to be doing. Her dad had defiantly noticed her disappearance by now. Was he at work right now? Pretending everything was fine and normal like he always did? Or maybe he was out looking for her. Somehow she couldn't see it. Him, in an environment like this, organic and untouched by people. He belonged in large square rooms with tall intimidating stone walls that echoed as you walked though them.

All things considered, she felt pretty safe. So she pulled her notebook and pencils from Sugar's saddle bag and sketched the world she as she saw it.

It was late morning and three redheads sat on broomsticks in the air nearby their tall magically balanced home. The twins were slightly put off. Having been pushed into the search by their mum, who had used every tool at her disposal to get them out here. Guilt: what if it was your little sister? Threats: don't expect to fly anymore this summer if you can't be bothered to do it today. Bribery, sort of: Think how happy Mr. Falkenwrath would be if you were the one to find his daughter. Which would have worked better on Percy, who actually cared about impressing some important guy in the Ministry, but Percy wasn't here right now because he was an awful flyer.

Charlie seemed okay with it all, but they slightly suspected that he just wanted to see weather his prediction was right, galleon or no galleon.

But Fred and George felt they had better things to do. They had just started their experiments that would hopefully turn into actual inventions people would pay money for. So far they hadn't managed to invent anything, but it had been fun seeing what did and didn't explode when you put it together with something else. So when they split up from Charlie, they slowed their pace and talked about their ideas and what to try next.

Both were thirteen and had few cares in the world, which included quidditch, good pranks, and their dream of owning a joke shop. Besides not having money for as many luxuries as they would like, they had seen very little hardship in the world. So it was no wonder that neither saw anything wrong with with their weird neighbor girl running off from home. Or thought too much about why she did it.

It was the kind of moment that would be suspended in time. The epitome of an uncomplicated childhood before reality got progressively tougher, confusing, and forced them to grow up much faster than they wanted.

Evelyn suddenly came to. Consciousness rising out of blackness like swimming up from deep water and breaking the surface. The first thing she saw was dirt, and leaves, on a ground that should not have been vertical. She was laying on her side. Trees and brush... her head pounded, and there was a pain on the side of her body that she was laying on. The pain intensified ten fold when she rolled onto her back. Shit...shit, shit! Was something broken? How'd she even get here? She gazed around her immediate area. Sugar was standing close by, and walked over when she noticed her masters head turning in her direction.

Had Sugar thrown her off? That had never happened before. Evelyn groaned, and tried to sit up. Pain shot through her body again and she gasped aloud before crashing onto her back once more. Sugar sniffed at her face.

The heat of the day was already seeped into the dirt. Was it the afternoon? Late morning? Evelyn realized she had no idea what happened before she blacked out, besides that she had defiantly hit her head on somehow. There was something sticky on her forehead, but she was too scared to lift her hand and touch it.

What was she going to do now? No wand...If she cast a spell, any spell, the trace would detect it. No doubt by now her dad was watching it. She didn't have a wand, but she once set fire to a pair of shoes when she was little. It was an accident but the trace could pick up stuff like that anyways, right? She honestly didn't even know. She lifted a hand towards the sky. Nothing happened. She tried again. Willing for some sparks to fly up, even if that didn't set off the trace, maybe someone would see them.

It took several tries before a few pitiful green sparks flew out above her face. Nobody would see that through the trees. She tried again. Again, again, again. The sparks were climbing higher, now several feet above her body, but Evelyn could feel her energy sapping. Again. Panic was settling inside her body. Again. She couldn't seem to make the sparks any larger. She took several deep breaths. Concentrated. Again, again, again...

Finally, a bolt of green energy shot above her and exploded into a real, honest firework above the tree tops. That was it, she had no more left in her. Evelyn laid as still as possible on the ground and waited.


	7. Caught

Evelyn didn't remember being found. She didn't remember being picked up by the second oldest Weasley son, then propped up on the back of the horse who had loyally stayed by her side. She didn't remember Charlie leading Sugar all the way to the Burrow. All she remembered was waking up on a couch at the Burrow, with all her injuries gone. Mrs. Weasley had learned long ago to keep a well stocked supply of first aid potions. She also knew quite a few good healing spells. So the broken ribs and concussion Evelyn should have had were gone without a trace.

She told Evelyn all this before going into a full blown scolding. Evelyn stared back blankly. She wasn't particularly use to this kind of motherly attention. Her own mother had ignored her for years before leaving without a farewell, and only told her off when she was being annoying. She'd never said anything to suggest she worried for Evelyn's well being. She had always said Evelyn could, and should take care of herself. She could feed herself, wash herself and put herself to bed. Evelyn had wondered often if all this was based on a personal belief, or if her mother just didn't like the routine duties of being a mom.

"-and I just don't know why. What could possibly convince you that you'd be better off out there than home? Whatever problem you have with your father can be worked out without you running away and getting hurt." Mrs. Weasley huffed. "Your father loves you, no matter what you may think." She finished.

Evelyn shrunk into herself and didn't respond to the older witch's words. She knew cared, but Evelyn still resented being talked down on. This women knew nothing of her home life. She assumed Evelyn had acted out of stupidity and recklessness.

She left Evelyn alone after that, saying that Evelyn's father would be arriving soon. Evelyn sat limp against the back of the couch. She was wondering if it was possible to make a break for it from here. Probably not. Then a couple heads of bright red hair peaked in from the hallway. Evelyn frowned at the twins, sure they were here to make fun of her pathetic attempt to run away. They glanced around quickly as if to check the coast was clear, then crept in towards her.

George hung back near the entrance to the kitchen. Presumably listening for any approaching adults. But Fred crouched on the floor in front of the couch, and spoke to her in a quiet whisper.

"Wotcher, Evs." He said. Evelyn just stared at him incredulously. He continued, "Too bad about being caught, next time you try it, let us know."

"What? why?" She asked.

"Well, we still remember how you helped us out in detention ages ago. So we kind of owe it you, don't we?" Fred said.

"Also, we feel kinda bad about mum telling you off. You're just gunna get told off again when you get home, right? Seems unnecessary."

Evelyn didn't know what to say. She finally settled on "Thanks." Fred nodded and grinned up at her. She examined his face, his freckles, bright brown eyes and the mischievous smile. How could somebody be such an exemplar of positivity and happiness? He was actually kind of pretty, she thought. Completely in contrast with how she looked and felt right now. A dirty wreck of a person who was contemplating weather or not surviving was worth what was going to happen next.

George made a quick tssk noise and the two quickly but silently exited the room. A moment later her father stepped in.

The room was dead still. He did not seem outwardly angry, though Evelyn knew he was. He wore a hard frown, his eyes looked down at her but his head was still held up. In his native language, he told her " _Do you understand how much trouble you are in?_ " A moment of silence. " _Hm, Yes, I think you do_." She fidgeted.

" _And, I think you know exactly what is happening when we get home_." Evelyn looked down, her face growing red. She was embarrassed despite knowing full well no one listening could understand the conversation.

" _I'm not your wife._ " She answered him back defiantly, but didn't lift her head up.

" _No, you're not. But you belong to me until you become somebody else's wife_." He leaned back in his seat. " _It's really not so bad, if you behaved and accepted it, you might even learn to enjoy yourself_."

She flicked her eyes up and scowled at him. " _Why_." She asked simply.

" _It's just something men need. You hang around in this house quit a bit, you'll see. I'd be shocked if at least one of these boys didn't eventually want to have sex with you_." Without moving his head, his eyes flicked over to the stairwell, where several eavesdroppers were assumed to be standing out of sight. Evelyn bristled but said nothing.

" _Just try to marry them before you get pregnant. Otherwise I'll be the only man in your life willing to take care of you_."

Before she could respond to that last statement he said in English "Get up. We're leaving now."

She reluctantly did as she was told and followed him to the kitchen. Her father quickly thanked Mrs. Weasley, and told her to thank her son and husband too for their help. He was extremely grateful.

They walked out the door and down the path, then he held out his arm to her. She grabbed ahold of it, and within a few uncomfortable seconds, they were standing in the parlor at the cottage.

She knew what she was in for when they arrived home. Maybe that's why she didn't resist when she was shoved onto her back on the floor as soon as they landed.

"Was it really so bad? That you'd rather live out in the wild than be here with me?" He leaned down and pressed his lips roughly to her neck. "Well it can get much worse than what happened last December."

Evelyn squeezed her eyes shut and tried to control her breathing. Then he bit into her neck and she cried, with her lips clamped shut to not let the noise out. He held her for a moment, then released her from his teeth and started pulling her robe upward over her head. So she was in just her peach bra and white underwear.

He trailed kisses from her neck to her chest and she flinched, expecting at any moment for him to bite her again. He pulled her underwear up to her knees. With one hand he held her ankles, and the other was behind her knee, pushing them back so that the front of her thighs were pressed to her stomach. Evelyn covered her face with her hands, trying to shield herself in any small way from what was happening. He looked down at her completely exposed lower half, reaching out a finger he pressed it into her. Evelyn bit her lip, determined not to make any noise. He moved his finger around before adding a second one. After a minute, he removed his fingers from her and pulled her underwear completely off so he could spread her legs open.

Evelyn's eyes were still closed, and she pressed her finigertips to her eyelids to further block out sight. But she could hear the sounds of him pulling his own robe off, the robe hitting the floor. Her heart beat too fast, and she was breathing much too hard. She braced for what she knew was coming next. She felt him press against her body, which at first did not yield to let him in. He spread her opening with his fingers and kept pressing until finally her body gave way and he got inside. Despite her desperate lip biting and determination, she cried out, then quieted once more.

Her father waited a few moments, to let her body adjust, before he began to pump. Evelyn hated the way the movement affected her breath. Forcing out little noises from her every time he pushed all the way in. He pulled her arms down and, leaning his weight on them, pinned them to her sides. She turned her head away, still refusing to open her eyes.

He called her name, and said other things she couldn't make out. Short phrases she wasn't expected to respond to. Her body hurt. This was definitely worse than last time.

Then in one swift move he flipped her body over and she was face first in the carpet. She barely managed to lift herself with her hands before he was on her again. His large, strong hands held her at the hips and he quickened his pace. She knew it would be over soon. She couldn't hold back from crying out any more. Her arms bent and she pressed her forehead against the plush rug.

He groaned as he finished, and she was as still as she could be. Her legs trembled slightly as she felt warmth spreading in her lower abdomen. He pulled out and sat next to her, panting slightly. Evelyn laid down on her side, curled into herself with her eyes still closed.

After a long moment she heard her father finally stand, grab his robe and start to walk out of the room.

"Oh," He said, as if he just remembered something. "I sold your pony. I will not take care of your pet almost all year round just so you can use her to get away from me during your months home. I bought you a bunny instead, it's rather cute, I think you'll like it." He walked off then, and Evelyn finally let the tears fall down her face.

Evelyn stood unmoving under a stream of hot water in the shower. Her eyes were closed as she tried to banish her immediate surroundings and thoughts. The act of washing almost felt in a way like turning what just happened into a distant idea rather than a fresh experience. She could almost imagine the pain and disgust flowing down the drain with the water. It made her feel better, a little bit.

She stepped out and toweled off before putting on a nightgown. She looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. There were large dark bruises forming on the right side of her neck, and the skin around it was still angry and red. She also had bruises developing on her upper arms. Her face was papery white, darkening around the shallows of eyes. Her lips were red where they came together, bitten by her own teeth. Her wet golden hair framed her face. It was the most noticeable feature she'd inherited from her father. She had a sudden urge to cut it all off, but decided not to. She didn't want to look stupid when she went back to school.

Back in her room, she looked around. Her bags were sitting on the floor, he must have retrieved them and set them there sometimes before he brought her home. There was also her new bunny, sitting in a wire cage next to her desk. It was tiny, it could easily fit in Evelyn's cupped hands. Its fur was wild and fluffy, and the color of milk chocolate. It twitched it's nose at Evelyn as she walked in. It was ridiculously cute. But she couldn't bring herself to appreciate it.

An entire four weeks passed before Evelyn left her house again. She wanted to see Ginny. In her letters, Ginny had obviously wanted Evelyn to come over during summer break, and she felt a bit bad about blowing the young girl off. She must be terribly confused about the entire situation. She had no idea why Evelyn had tried to run away.

Evelyn put on her favorite bright yellow dress. In the past she had always worn her riding clothes over to the Weasley's house. But now she would take the floo, so no need for riding trousers and old blouses this time. The dress was tight fitting, but the fabric was soft so it didn't pinch her anywhere. It had tiny short sleeves that hung off her shoulders. The neckline swooped down, and if her breasts were larger she might have had cleavage. It dipped slightly lower in the back, partially exposing her shoulder bones. As it was, the dress showed off just enough skin to be appropriate. The skirt was light and breezy, and it came down just above her knees. She paired it with matching yellow flats.

She had eventually cut her hair, but only to give herself bangs. They swept across her brow, as long as they could be without getting into her eyes. She put the rest of her hair into a high bun to keep it off her neck. it was a very hot summer day.

Examining herself in the mirror, she considered a matching ribbon for her hair, then decided that maybe that would be too much. She put on a little bit of mascara and left it at that. She had neatly folded several other dresses in a stack, ready to bring with her. She'd grown out of most of them recently and hoped Ginny would like to have them. Evelyn hoped it could somewhat make up for how she'd been ignored.

She floo'd over with the stack of dresses carefully balanced in her arms. When she stepped out, Mrs. Weasley was there at the kitchen table drinking tea. She was only momentarily surprised to see Evelyn, then her expression broke into an adoring smile as she stood up come greet Evelyn.

"Hello dear, look at you! How lovely." The matriarch said, cupping Evelyn's face in her hands.

Evelyn didn't know how to feel. Last time she had seen Mrs. Weasley the woman had been scolding, and terribly disappointed in her. All that was gone now and Evelyn felt awkward with the attention on her.

"Hello , I brought some dresses of mine for Ginny." She said, blushing a bit.

"Oh that's sweet of you. Let me call her in, she's outside playing with her brothers in the pond."

"That's okay. I'll just put these in her room and go find them." She set the dresses down on Ginny's bed before walking out of the room and back down the stairs. On the last step she heard the door swing open and more than one pair of feet come thundering into the kitchen.

She rounded the corner to see Fred and George, followed by Ron, and then Ginny, all coming into the kitchen dripping wet. All three boys were shirtless, while Ginny wore an oversized tshirt and shorts. As one of the twins caught sight of her and he immediately tripped over the leg of a kitchen chair, causing the other twin to run into him and nearly trip himself. "Bloody hell, Freddie!" shouted the one who hadn't fell. Ron laughed as Fred picked himself up of the ground, face and ears tinted red. Mrs. Weasley scolded George for his language and gave Fred a look that Evelyn didn't understand.

"Evy!" cried Ginny as soon as she caught sight of her friend. She ran around her brothers and took Evelyn into a tight hug.

"Ginny! your wet!" She cried, but hugged the little girl back all the same. "How are you?" Evelyn asked. Ginny had grown several inches since Evelyn last saw her. Good, the dresses would probably fit.

"I'm okay, I was worried about you."

"Sorry I didn't come over sooner, I wasn't allowed."

"So your just now getting out of jail?" Fred said, having recovered from his embarrassing fall quite fast. Evelyn shrugged. "Pretty much. Dad took me to work with him everyday for two weeks. Just to keep an eye on me. It was dreadfully boring. Then two weeks after that I was only allowed to stay home and do chores." Ron had apparently decided he wasn't interested in this conversation and left his siblings to go change. George hesitated for a moment before leaving as well. But apparently Fred wanted to hear about her punishment, because he stayed where he was, leaning on the kitchen chair he'd tripped over.

"He also sold Sugar." Ginny looked as upset as Evelyn was at that. "But I guess he felt bad about it because he also bought me a stupid bunny."

"Well I do hope you learned your lesson. I'd still be angary if you were my daughter." Mrs. Weasley huffed, glancing from Ginny to Evelyn. Evelyn felt she was being given a silent warning: _don't you dare encourage her to do what you did. Ginny is a good girl, and you are a troubled child. I'm watching you_.

"Why'd you leave?" Ginny asked seriously. Evelyn snapped her head away from Mrs. Weasley to look at Ginny. She tried to think of a response to this. She bit her lip, once again very embarrassed at how tangled up the Weasleys had gotten in her attempt to runaway. She hadn't meant for it to happen and she didn't have any excuses ready.

"That's fine, you don't have to tell me." Ginny said, seeing the look on Evelyn's face. She'd grown not just physically, but in maturity as well. She'd come along way since the time she'd asked Evelyn about her missing mother. She understood now that somethings are too hard for people to say.

Evelyn nodded gratefully. "Yeah...thanks, is Charlie around? I never got to thank him."

"He's moved out. Went to Romania to work with dragons." Fred said, eyes traveling from her dress to her face. Evelyn stole a glance at the clock. Charlie's hand was currently pointed at "Home". She supposed that since moving out, the Burrow wasn't his home anymore, and right now he was probably in a flat somewhere in Romania. She wondered if he was homesick, or relieved at having a space to himself.

Mrs. Weasley told her remaining two children to get out of her kitchen and to stop dripping water on her floor, lunch would be ready soon, and that Evelyn was welcome to spend the night if she was allowed.

"You're so pretty today." Ginny said, as they started towards her room.

"Thanks. I brought you a few of my dresses to try on if you want." Ginny gasped, her large brown eyes widened with excitement. "Yes!" She grabbed Evelyn by the hand and pulled her up to her bedroom.


	8. Moonlight

Ginny pranced down the stairs like a princess and twirled in dress Evelyn had just given her. The top part was navy blue, it dipped only below the collarbone, and the short sleeves covered Ginny's shoulders. The skirt part of the dress was white and patterned with large blue roses. When her mom saw her, she let out small gasp, bringing her hands up to her mouth. The next several minutes were filled with Mrs. Weasley gushing over her daughter.

The boys all rolled their eyes at the scene as they came in for lunch. For the first time since arriving Evelyn saw Percy. He held his head up pompously as he walked in, making Evelyn think he looked like fake royalty almost as much as Ginny did. He stopped for moment when he saw her. She noticed his eyes scan her dress the same way Fred's had, then he quickly looked away and sat down at the table. Did they think her riding outfit and Hogwarts uniform were the only clothes she owned?

"You made prefect?" Evelyn asked, noticing the shiny new badge pinned to his chest. The other brothers all simultaneously groaned.

"Don't ask him that, he's been going on about it for ages." Ron said.

"He won't shut up." Said Fred.

"Quick, don't look him in the eye and maybe he'll give up and leave." His twin suggested.

"Better play dead just to make sure." Fred added.

Percy shot a glare towards them but answered Evelyn anyways. " I did, obviously professor McGonagall recognized my hard work and dedication to the school." He puffed out his chest a little more.

"Oh, well, congratulations." She said politely.

"Are you hoping to be prefect?" He asked. Evelyn laughed at the question.

"No. I guess I wouldn't mind, but I'm far from favored in my house." She said. "I honestly have a hard enough time keeping up with homework without extra responsibility."

Ron furrowed his brow. "Aren't you a Ravenclaw?" Ron was starting his first year at the end of the summer, and Evelyn thought he was insistently interested in anything relating to what it was really like in Hogwarts.

"Not a very good one." Evelyn said bitterly. Grades were not all there was too being Ravenclaw, as most people seemed to think. Even some of her own housemates fell into that trap, obsessing over the letters marked on they're essays and missing the entire point of education. Professor Flitwick treated everyone in his house equally, bad grades or not, really it was more about effort and the curiosity to learn. He'd only seemed disappointed in Evelyn when she had refused talk about what was causing her sudden drop in performance.

Maybe at the start of the next school year she would try to do better.

Afterwards, everyone was out at the pond again. It was so hot and sunny outside that you could hardly do much else. Evelyn of course didn't have a bathing suit, so she just sat on the peer with her feet in the water. Ginny swam around spastically, showing off for her older friend by doing tricks and splashing her brothers. Evelyn got caught in the crossfire of a particularly ferocious attack.

"Sorry Ev," Said Ginny, but Fred just grinned.

"You're already half wet now, you might as well get in." He called.

"No thanks." Evelyn replied, wiping water droplets off her face. "I don't really like swimming." Her yellow dress would also just get impossibly heavy when soaked.

Fred pouted, then acted as if he'd given up and dived underneath the surface.

Evelyn hardly had time finish ringing out her ponytail when he sprang from the surface again, grabbed her around the waist and dragged her into the pond.

Evelyn let out a yelp before her head plunged under the water. Water went into her nose and mouth, she squeezed her eyes shut. Then the arms released her, she frantically attempted to swim upward, and was immensely revealed when her head broke the surface again, seemingly by dumb luck, as she could hardly tell where she was underwater and was a pretty bad swimmer.

Coughing and spitting, she immediately clutched onto the nearest thing for support; Fred. He grinned widely at her. "I told you I didn't want to." She cried, still coughing.

"You're fine, aren't ya?" She could feel her skirt floating up underneath the water, Fred's arm wrapped around the back of her thighs to support her as she clung to his shoulders.

She sniffed, feeling tears coming. "I want out." She said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She didn't want them to see her cry, again.

His smile disappeared. "Fine." He gently pushed her off of him towards the bank of the pond. Where she climbed out. Just as she knew would happen, her dress was too heavy, and it clung to her body like a second skin. When both her knees were safely on land, she crossed her arms over her chest, to cover her very obvious nipples. She stood and started walking towards the house, ignoring the Weasleys who called after her.

With her back facing them she finally let herself start crying. It was stupid, she knew, but it had scared her, and her nose still hurt from the water, and she hated the feeling of her wet clothes. She hoped Mrs. Weasley wasn't in the kitchen or the sitting room, so she could reach the floo without giving an explanation.

She wasn't so lucky.

Mrs. Weasley was right there when she entered the house. "Oh, dear, did you fall in?" She asked, bustling over.

Evelyn sniffed, but before she could answer, Ginny busted in and screamed "FRED PUSHED HER IN!"

"Really." The older woman said, looking furious. She waived her wand over Evelyn, vanishing the water instantly. Then she stormed through the kitchen door and shouted "FRED, YOU COME HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"I'm uh, gunna go home..." Evelyn said. She felt a little bad for Fred getting in trouble and didn't want to be here to see him get chewed out by his mom. She was also still crying, and she hated people seeing her cry.

"No!" Cried Ginny.

"I can come back later Gin, I just need to do some things around the house." And relax in a quiet place for a bit. She loved the Weasleys, and The Burrow was a safe heaven, but it could become overwhelming sometimes. This was definitely one of those times. She needed to be alone when it got like this.

"I'll see if I can come back tonight?" She said questioningly.

Mrs. Weasley leaned back into the house through the door frame. "Of course dear, you're welcome anytime, terribly sorry about my son, he's..." She sighed, lost for words. Then leaned back out the door. "FRED, I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!"

Evelyn quickly retrieved her things from Ginny's room, gave the young girl a hug, and floo'd home.

She stepped into her silent empty house and inhaled a deep breath. For a few moments she just stood there, looking around the stiff, unused sitting room. Several furniture pieces had been replaced since her mom left. Her father was not much of a decorator. Previously the house had been filled with decadent cushy pieces all in pastel colors, and flowers, her mother had loved flowers. Evelyn thought that like herself, he probably couldn't look at it without remembering her. So they'd been replaced with more neutral pieces. Maybe he was trying to find a style for himself or an identity separate from her. But it was all kind of pointless anyways, they never used the sitting room.

Evelyn tried to make up her mind about what to do. She could draw or write. But she was very behind on summer homework, and she wasn't eager to see her professors disappointed in her again. Her bedroom was exactly as she left it earlier, bed unmade, clothes discarded on the floor in front of the closet. A gentle shuffling brought her attention to the bunny cage. She realized it's water bottle was empty, as well as the food bowl. Feeling a twinge of guilt, she quickly refilled her nameless pet's food and water. Then cleaned out some of the droppings even though the cage was still pretty fresh. She scratched him gently on the head once, before shutting the cage door again. The bunny looked at her, and sniffed the door as if to say is that it?

After putting on comfortable clothes, she cleared off her desk and set her homework out. Her father wouldn't be home for several hours. She supposed she should cook them dinner once she was done with homework. He might be more willing to continue letting her spend the night at The Burrow if he didn't have to cook for himself after a long day of work. Of course, there was a risk that she might have to do that with him again, but she didn't see any way out of it. She sighed. Fred had offered to help if she ever ran away again, but did he actually mean it? And did she want to take that risk again? Evelyn tried to banish that thought from her mind, she needed to concentrate on her work.

A few hours later, Evelyn felt very accomplished in the amount of work she'd done. There was still more to do before school started again, but she'd made a incredible dent. The sun was dipping now, making the sky outside her window catch fire with bright colors. She stood and went to the kitchen to figure out what she'd cook.

He arrived while Just as the chicken came out of the oven.

"Whats all this? for me?" He asked, slipping his cloak off. "And I thought I would be coming home to an empty house."

She placed the chicken on the table, before going back for plates. "I needed to be here for a little while." She said, "But I was hoping to go back after dinner?"

"Sure." He shrugged, and took his seat at the head of the table.

She glanced at him nervously. "So...are- are you gunna want to do that again?"

"That?" He asked, leaning his head into his hand, a small smile on his lips. "What do you mean by that?"

"You know." She answered, and crossed her arms. Trying to be stoic, but the adrenaline was making her feel sick.

He didn't answer her, and just continued staring placidly.

"I just want to know, because if you are, I want to do it soon so I can get back to The Burrow." He looked surprised, eyebrows raised half and inch. "I don't want to have to wait for your food to digest, or something." She added, managing to keep her tone even.

He snorted, "Really...Fine then, if you insist." He stood abruptly from his chair, and she instinctively backed away a step.

"Put your hands on the table." He demanded. She glanced at the table and back to him. "What?"

"Put. Your hands. On. The table." He said again.

"Here?"

"Here."

She placed her hands on the table in one of the places that didn't have a plate.

He walked over and pulled the pajama pants she had put on down to her thighs. Evelyn bit her lip, all bravery and defiance gone. He spent some time rubbing her butt, and just looking, each minute he drew it out just making her more tense. He rubbed between her legs, leaning down to do so, his chest resting on her shoulders. She pressed further into the table in a useless attempt to get away from that touch, but the edge of the table pushed into her hipbones, pinning her in place. He stroked along the opening, then made gentle little circles at the top. She hated the feeling, that specific spot, it was overwhelming and strange, almost painful but not.

She squirmed, not really trying to get away but not able to stay still. Her gaze locked onto the grain of the wood table, she concentrated on it, ignoring what was happening and what she was feeling. As if it were happening to somebody else and she was only watching.

Evelyn was suddenly aware of herself, sitting in her chair, plate of food placed in front of her. She had no memory of moving from the bent position to her spot now. Her father was at his seat again, calmly eating as if nothing had changed. She was loosely holding a fork in her right hand, when did she pick it up? Her hips hurt, so did her abdomen, she was wet between her legs.

"Are you going to eat?" Her fathers voice cut into her confused line of thought. She looked to him then back to the food. She didn't remember making herself a plate.

She took a halfhearted bite. It was hard to ignore the throbbing pains and think clearly. The food felt like rubber in her mouth, she struggled to chew and swallow the first bite. She exhaled once it was gone, slightly dizzy.

"I'm not that hungry anymore..." She said. "I think I'm just gonna go shower and leave."

"Fine then." He said indifferently.

In the shower, She leaned against the wall. Heat from her cheek seeped into the tile, a small distraction from the pain. Her mind was blank, she didn't feel like contemplating the odd time skip and what it could mean. She didn't care. She scrubbed her skin hard, making it glow pink and sting just a little. Then washed her hair with shampoo that was more fragrance than soap, and stepped out feeling slightly better.

Then she went to her room to gather a few things. A Ravenclaw blue shirt tucked into a black skirt for tonight, her usual night gown for bed, and a raspberry dress for tomorrow. Packed up and dressed, she looked around the room for anything she might have missed.

Evelyn glanced at the bunny, who wiggled its nose at her curiously through the cage bars. She was still angry and bitter about losing her horse. She hadn't wanted the bunny, not really. It was hard to see it and not remember the events that led to it's arrival. But still, it didn't do anything wrong to her, and she felt a little bad about neglecting it.

She walked over to the cage and opened it up. "Hey little guy." She said in a soft voice, gently sliding her hand underneath it's tiny body. She was careful, since animals can have unpredictable reactions. The bunny didn't not seem to mind being picked up at all.

Setting him down on the bed, she went to grab a jacket from her closet. After putting the jacket on and zipping it up partway, she gently placed the bunny inside, right next to her chest. All things considered, the little creature was taking things very well. Backpack on, she went to the kitchen to wrap the cookies she made, then stepped through the floo back into the Weasleys house.

Stepping out of the floo, the rabbit wiggled around frantically for a moment, then stilled once it realized they were back on solid ground. She patted it gently through the cloth. Wondering for a moment how magical breeding changed animals temperaments. Every wild rabbit she'd ever seen was practically scared by its own shadow.

The sitting room was empty, and she could assume everyone else, being done with supper by now, were probably upstairs. She took a step forward but stopped when she heard a voices coming from the kitchen.

"-know you don't want to hear it, and frankly, I don't want to have to tell you."

"Then why are we here?"

"Because your mother thinks you need this talk. "

"Right..."

"There are better ways to flirt than by dragging a girl into water."

"I wasn't flirting! I just thought it'd be funny, didn't expect her to cry..."

"Really." It was a statement, not a question, that he didn't believe a word his son just said. "Well, not all of them are like Ginny, with six brothers. She might be use to your ticks and rough housing but Evelyn's an only child. Maybe just, try complementing her next time."

"Dad..."

"And probably apologize too."

Evelyn decided she'd walk briskly in and act as if she'd just gotten there. "Hi Mr. Weasley." She said. Fred made a point of looking away, he was red in the ears.

"Hi, Evelyn. How are you?"

"Oh I'm fine. I just had dinner with my dad."

He nodded. "I'll let Ginny know your here, we'll finish this talk later Fred." With that he walked off.

Evelyn and Fred stayed where they were, awkwardly avoiding each other's gaze. She decided to take a seat.

"Hey, uh, I'm sorry about earlier." He said to the table.

"It's okay, I know I kind of over reacted..." She tucked her hands under her thighs. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble." Fred looked up at her. She continued. "I was hoping I could floo home, but your mum was there when I walked in, and then Ginny ran in and told on you..."

"Yeah, I know that part. Little prat." Evelyn giggled, and Fred cracked a small smile too.

"I don't really know how to swim." She confessed.

"It's not so hard. You should let me teach you."

Evelyn nodded. "Yeah, maybe..."

Just then Ginny came thundering down the stairs in her Pajamas.

"You came back!" She threw her arms around Evelyn's waist.

"Well, I said I would." She hugged the other girl back. "and look what I brought." She unzipped her jacket a bit, and the rabbits head popped out.

Ginny gasped. "It's so cute!"

Evelyn smiled. "I was hoping you'd help me name it?"

Ginny bounced with glee. "Is it a boy or girl?" she asked.

"I...I don't know." Evelyn pulled the rabbit out and placed it on the table. The small pet cautiously explored his surroundings.

"How can we name it if we don't know?" asked Ginny.

Evelyn picked up the bunny and held it on it's back, tummy facing up. Trouble was, it was so fluffy you couldn't see anything too easily.

She gently combed through its fur with two fingers.

"What are you looking for?" Ginny asked curiously. Evelyn paused a moment. Ginny was four years younger than she, and Evelyn couldn't be sure how much she knew about gender and anatomy. She glanced at Fred, who was hiding a smile behind his hand. Well, he's not going to be any help.

"Oh, there, it's a boy." She quickly placed the bunny rabbit back down. He seemed none the wiser about the privacy invasion and continued to sniff about. By now, Fred was giggling, and doing a poor job of hiding. Ginny frowned at him.

"Shut up, Fred! Lets go to my room." She said to Evelyn. She got up to follow the little redhead out of the kitchen, glancing one last time at Fred, who looked back at her, mischievous smile back in place.

They went through many names. All of Ginny's suggestions were exceptionally creative, and not at all fitting for a tiny fluffy bunny.

"Okay, but how about Adonis? It means 'lord' in Greek mythology."

"I don't think he looks much like a lord." Evelyn responded, petting the little (boy) bunny.

"Okay, how about Bedivere? That was the name of King Arthur's friend." Ginny said. Evelyn was impressed with how well read her young friend was. She only had a handful of books, on king Arthur and other tales, but it seemed that she had read all of them forwards and backwards. She supposed it must get pretty boring at The Burrow when all her older brothers went to school. Evelyn knew the feeling.

"Not bad, but I feel like we'd end up calling him Bed for short, which isn't very cute."

They went on like that into the night, until Mr. Weasley gently knocked on the door and reminded them that it was time to sleep. Evelyn changed into her nightgown, and laid the still unnamed little bunny into a basket to sleep in.

The cot she slept on was not particularly comfortable, and Evelyn usually found herself lying in bed awake well into the night whenever she slept over. She didn't mind though. She felt quit safe here, under the soft old blanket they gave her. It gave her time to think.

She realized she needed to pee, and sat up silently in the dark. She slowly opened the door, and slipped out into the hall. It was strange to see the usually bright, lively burrow shrouded in darkness and quiet. She tiptoed towards the bathroom. Every creak in the floorboard seemed louder than a lion's roar, but since no cries of annoyance came from the bedrooms, she assumed she hadn't woken anybody. She reached the bathroom, and when she was done, she stepped out and nearly jumped out of her skin.

Fred was standing in the hall, at least, she was pretty sure it was Fred. "Merlin, Fred, if I hadn't already gone, I would have peed myself." She said in a whisper.

He grinned at that, so it was Fred. "Sorry, wasn't my intention. I couldn't sleep, and thought I heard someone creeping around outside my door." He whispered back. His brown eyes looked black in the darkness, only a small amount of moonlight reflected his usual playfulness.

"I wasn't creeping." She said defiantly.

"I mean if you say so... wanna go have some fun?"

"What kind of fun?" She asked wearily.

"I dunno, I just kind of feel like moonlight stroll, or I could teach you how to swim now."

"Now?" She asked incredulously.

"As good a time as any."

She thought for a moment. "Okay." She wasn't tired, if she went back to Ginny's room now, she'd just lay awake for another couple hours before she fell asleep. Following his lead, they went down the stairs, skipping the squeakier ones, of which locations Fred had memorized.

The meadow outside The Burrow was lit with fireflies. They twinkled and danced a foot or two off the grass, trying to shine the brightest in hopes of attracting love. The moon was half full, and cast luminescent shadows over the scene. It was beautiful, and Evelyn wondered how she might try to draw it. She didn't use color that often, but this scene wouldn't be so magical without the blues, silvers, yellow and green all harmoniously together. Fred pulled her from her thoughts by grabbing her hand and leading her towards the pond.

"You won't push me in again, right?" Evelyn said, trying to make it sound like a joke.

"I wouldn't risk that, you weren't here when mum chewed me out the first time. I won't make you go in, but I think you'd like it if you tried." They got to the waters edge. Moonlight reflected off the still surface, giving the pond a glassy look. and Fred pulled his shirt off and tossed it on the grass. Rather than jump in, like he usually did in the daylight, he sat on the edge and slid in, making the least amount of noise. The reflective surface warbled, and the gentle sound of the water moving was somehow comforting. Fred held out a hand towards her. She hesitated, then sat down on the edge, as he had done. cautiously, she took his hand and put one foot into the water.

"You won't let me drown?"

"I'm a great swimmer, just hold onto me and there's no way that'll happen." He said confidently. So she did. sliding into the water she instantly clutched onto his shoulders, just as she had before. He held her around the waist with one arm, and tread water with the other. He grinned ear to ear.

"See? not that scary." He said. Evelyn's heart beat slightly too fast, but it wasn't anything like the panic she'd felt last time.

"Yeah?" She responded dumbly, voice shaking a tad. She pressed her head into his shoulder as she clutched to him.

The water felt warmer now that her whole body was submerged. Her nightgown was drifting up a tad, but she was too scared to let go of Fred to pull it down. She hoped the darkness would preserve her modesty.

"When you can, you should try letting go for a second." He suggested. She quietly whimpered. He laughed. "If you just move your legs like your running under the water, and do what I'm doing with my arms, you should stay afloat. Just for a second, and then you can hang off me again if it's too much." Normally something like that would sound mocking to Evelyn, but he seemed genuine.

"Did you teach Ginny and Ron to swim like this?" She asked.

"Sort of? We all did." He shrugged a little, Evelyn felt the movement against her body.

If Ginny could do it, there was no reason she shouldn't be able to do it as well. She pushed off of him, keeping one arm on his shoulder. She tread the water successfully for a moment. Then she felt her body sink a little and panicked, reaching back for Fred, who easily held her again.

"Alright, now to do it twenty more times." He said.

"Oh no..." She responded.

"That's how you learn." He stated matter-of-factually.

They did it a few more times. Evelyn started to feel tired, and while Fred was putting on a good face, she could hear him start to breath a little heavy. Which was fair, he was holding up the both of them.

"I think I've had enough for tonight." She said. "Lets get out."

He pulled them over to the bank, where she was able to pull herself out and sit on the grass next to him. Her nightgown clung to her body, it was thinner than her yellow dress, she hoped the darkness preserved her modesty. Despite the warm summer night, the water made her skin cold in the slight breeze. He scooted closer and, wrapping and arm around her, rubbed her upper arm to warm her up. She leaned into him. After clutching on so tightly in the water, it didn't feel too weird to be this close now.

Neither of them said anything. Evelyn couldn't think of any particular topic to bring up, and she assumed the same for him. They didn't have much in common, but tonight that didn't seem to matter, she was comfortable in the silence. Then he broke it.

"Ev?"

She turned to him just to be surprised when he pressed he lips to hers. At first she didn't kiss him back, being frozen by shock. He held them there so lightly, as if scared shed bite him. He pulled back to look at her, gauging her reaction. She giggled, feeling her face heat up with embarrassment, but also giddiness. He looked confused, squinting at her in the dark, and she wondered if he'd took her reaction the wrong way. Not knowing what to say, she leaned in to kiss him again, and he must have took that as permission and pushed his lips onto hers with more confidence this time.

They broke the kiss, foreheads pressed together, and both giggled.

The kept kissing. Fred's hand stayed on her shoulder, but fidgeted as if he wasn't sure what to do with it. She pressed closer to him, still feeling cold. He wrapped his arms around her, eliminating the small space between their bodies. This time when they broke apart, they were both breathing a little heavy.

They stayed like that for some time. It seemed like they were both waiting for the other to do something next, not exactly sure what to do themselves. Evelyn leaned her head against his chest, shivering. She could hear his heartbeat.

"We should probably go back inside." He said finally. "Before you get sick."

Evelyn just nodded. She was cold and exhausted.

Just as silently as they left, they sneaked back into the house. Fred grabbed them some towels and kissed her once more before disappearing to his room.

Once back in Ginny's room. Evelyn stripped her wet nightgown off and put on the underwear she packed for tomorrow. She could always lie and say she got too hot, if anybody came into the room and noticed, which wasn't that likely.

She slipped back under her blanket. Despite feeling physically tired, her mind buzzed with excitement, and she replayed the events in her mind the rest of the night.


	9. Nowhere

The sun had started to rise before Evelyn finally managed to fall asleep, so when Ginny shook her awake a few hours later she felt like death. She stretched her arms out above her and slowly willed herself to sit up.

Ginny was completely unconcerned with why Evelyn was in her knickers, and left her older friend to get dressed while she went downstairs for breakfast.

Evelyn cracked her back, and stretched again before sliding out from under the sheets. Merlin, she really did feel horrible. She wanted to go home as soon as possible and either drink some coffee or go back to bed. And avoid looking at Fred over a plate of pancakes while trying to act normal.

The tight feeling in her chest that had kept her awake returned. She had no idea if Fred wanted to keep this whole thing a secret. It wasn't a rule exactly, but she was pretty sure swimming by themselves at night half dressed wasn't allowed by his parents. She might not be permitted to stay over again if they knew she and him had a relationship. Whatever that relationship was. He hadn't said anything to suggest they were together now, as far as she knew he only felt like kissing on that one particular night and wouldn't ever want to do it again.

She absently pulled on the raspberry dress she'd packed. Her nightgown, which she had wrapped in the towel and shoved deep inside her duffel bag was still damp. There was a wet spot on her dress from it. She'd hoped the towel would be enough but that was wishful thinking. The spot was small, on her ribs, and not too noticeable on this color. But she put on her jacket to cover the spot anyways. Hopefully nobody would ask her why she was wearing a jacket mid-summer.

There was a small collection of bunny poop in the basket that her nameless pet had been kept in. Evelyn chucked it out Ginny's window. She probably should have thought of that before she brought him over. Mrs. Weasley might really not like having a loose animal pooping in the house. He did a good job though, of keeping it in one place. She picked him up, tucked him into her jacket, grabbed her bag and slowly padded down stairs.

Before she even got there, she could hear one of the boys teasing Ginny, and Ginny fighting back. Evelyn smiled, she didn't have an ounce of fire that her younger friend had. She really admired that about her.

The kitchen fell silent when Evelyn stepped in. Both twins were there as well as Percy, Ron was probably still sleeping and Mr. Weasley had already left for work. By some miracle, Mrs. Weasley was not currently in the room. Evelyn immediately met Fred's eyes before turning away. She could feel her face heat up a little.

"Hey, Gin, I need to go home." She said, trying to act and sound as normal as possible.

"Aww..." The young redhead pouted.

"I know, But I got chores, and homework, and a bunch of other boring stuff to do." The blonde witch stated. "There's still a lot of summer left. I'll be back." She took a glance in Fred's direction.

He looked as if he wanted to say something, but kept his mouth shut. George, on the other hand, was smiling with his chin in his hand. So he told George, of course. But his silence confirmed what she thought. They were going keep quiet about this for now.

Percy watched the scene passively. If he noticed anything out of the ordinary he didn't voice it. Evelyn was glad, because she was sure that he was the most likely to grass them.

"Okay, come back when you're done!" Ginny said.

"You know I will. seeya later Gin!" Evelyn hugged her, then turned to get to the floo quick, before Mrs. Weasley had a chance to appear and make her eat something.

* * *

The next several days Evelyn spent in her bedroom on quiet, lonely activities. Half an hour on homework there, two hours writing or drawing here. Sometimes she would just lie on her bed, doing nothing at all, while her mind went blank. A few times this had lasted longer than she meant. She'd be dragged from her blank slate by her father coming home, several hours later.

Evelyn was getting a bit anxious about homework. She was making progress on it. But school started again in a month and a half and each potion essay took several days alone. Other teachers designed summer homework to simply refresh what they'd learned the previous year, so that you wouldn't get rusty before going back. But Snape's summer homework was harder, possibly by design to keep his students from having any fun. Evelyn liked the hands on part of potions, but she hated reading dry academic texts just to regurgitate the information in dry academic writing. It was a horrible waste of time, she thought.

Why was she in Ravenclaw again?

Evelyn wondered how she was ever going to survive O.W.L.s. Each year she saw them, the fifth years. Huddled over books and papers in the common room, clutching coffee cups and quills. Stress would mount and there'd be an inevitable breakdown. Usually there were multiple breakdowns. Those people were undoubtedly already much better students than her, and if they could just barely handle it... she was going to absolutely drown.

Taking a deep breath, she decided it was time for a snack and coffee. It might give her the energy to finish this paper tonight rather than tomorrow.

But as she passed the clock on the wall in the hallway, she realized it was about time to make dinner and her chest sank. She and her dad had developed a routine. An hour or two after dinner and she'd go back to his room and get into bed with him. Cooking now filled her with dread because it signaled what came after.

Not that there was much choice, she wasn't brazen enough to try running away again. Even with Fred and George's promise to help, it would probably end badly.

As Evelyn started on dinner her mind drifted to Fred again. She'd never considered the possibility of having a boyfriend before. At school few people liked her, most boys didn't even look her direction. Some of the crueler ones would even screw up their face in disgust when they got partnered with her.

But if Fred liked her enough to kiss her, on purpose, it had to mean something. She didn't think they were technically boyfriend and girlfriend yet. There had to be some kind of agreement, a promise that more kissing and dates were going to happen. She also thought part of it was that everybody else knew you were together. Her thoughts took a dark turn and anxiety trickled into her chest.

He might have just been bored. He might not even like you. You're a dull person who can't keep a conversation going with someone your own age, and when you try you embarrass yourself. You aren't smart, good at anything and you're only only sort of okay looking. Not to mention you won't be a virgin when you're married.

She sighed and finished the meal in despondency.

After dinner. Her father coaxed Evelyn into his room, gently pulling her hand and speaking in soft tones. To tell her how he appreciated the food, and wanted them to sleep together somewhere more comfortable than the furniture around the house or Evelyn's single person bed. She obediently followed, knowing that if she didn't she would just end up bent over somewhere else. But the change felt weird, as if it was an official arrangement now instead of an occasional chaotic event.

As she climbed into bed, she couldn't help but think about her mother, who had been here just a few years ago, doing the same things with the same man. She thought about Fred while her clothes were being pulled off. "Its something men need" Her father had said. She wondered at what age did they start needing it? Was it really every man? Would Ginny's dad have done this if he didn't have a wife?

Her father pushed her onto her back. Then nudged her legs open with his. She laid limp and exposed, cool air brushed her between the legs and her skin prickled with little bumps. He pulled his own robe off, and instead of closing her eyes as she usually did, she watched him bring his manhood out. She clenched her body as it went in, hating it. She couldn't imagine doing this willingly. He sighed deeply, rubbing her thighs, eyes closed and content. She watched him, and when he opened his eyes again he looked down into hers.

"You're taking this better than usual." He stated, bending forward to place his hands on the bed on either side of her head. His body was longer than hers, so she had to tilt her head up to keep eye contact.

"Is what you said true? About men needing this?" she asked.

"Of course." he said, pressing himself into her more. She let out a small gasp.

"When did you first do it?" she asked when she'd regained her breath.

He didn't answer right away. He pulled out again, slowly. She glanced down at it. He seemed to like her looking, and he smiled slightly. "I was fourteen." He said. He suddenly thrust into her, cutting off her ability to ask any more questions.

It took a long time before Evelyn gathered the courage to go back to The Burrow. Homework had proved a sufficient distraction, and coupled with the anxiety of seeing Fred again it was almost two weeks later when she finally stepped into their sitting room again, after diner and fresh from a shower.

Ginny was lying on the rug, apparently playing exploding snap with Ron. When she saw her friend she leaped from her position to hug Evelyn tightly. "You were gone so long!"

"You'll understand when you have piles homework for yourself, dad didn't want to come back until most of it was done." Evelyn said, relief flooding her when she noticed that Fred, and his brother, were absent. "And it wasn't that long." Ginny giggled and asked if she wanted to join their game.

Mrs. Weasley was knitting on a love seat. Sitting across from her was Mr. Weasley in a armchair. They greeted her kindly when she came in before going back to their own conversation. This atmosphere was so warm and comfortable that Evelyn regretted taking so long to come back.

She took a spot on the floor and watched Ginny and Ron continue their game. After that she took a turn against Ginny. It was all so normal, Evelyn relaxed and enjoyed it. Her stomach hurt, but as long as she could come here and feel safe once in a while, maybe it would be okay.

The twins didn't appear again for the rest of the night.

Later, as she and Ginny were getting ready for bed, Evelyn was going to have to go home because she forgot to bring clothes to sleep in.

"Nonsense dear, you don't need to run all the way over there, I can find you something comfortable to sleep in." Mrs. Weasley insisted. It wasn't exactly inconvenient to floo home and grab some clothes, but Evelyn was glad for it. She waited patiently in Ginny's room for Mrs. Weasley to come back with a handful of clothes.

"These pajama bottoms used to be Percy's, and this shirt...well I don't remember who it belonged to first but it should do well enough to sleep in." She said, handing the clothes over.

Evelyn took them and set then on the bed so she could unbutton her dress. She stepped out of it, still in her bra and underwear and reached for the shirt. Then she caught Mrs. Weasley frowning at her. "That's a terrible bruise dear, how did you do that?"

"Oh, um..." Evelyn quickly pulled the shirt on, wanting to be covered up as soon as possible. She'd completely forgotten about the bruises dotting her hips from her father ramming her against the table. They were old now, and as nasty as they had been, they were already turning greenish and healing. Thankfully the shirt was long and fell past her hips, covering up the suspicious marks.

She thought up a lie quickly. "I had to clean out our barn by hand, as punishment for running off, and I fell over on some of the tools I was using. It was pretty bad, I got horse manure all over me." She smiled to try and put some humor into her fake story and distract the matron.

Mrs. Weasley did not seem amused. "Well, you could have done something to heal it. Doesn't your father keep any ointments for this?" She put her hands on her hips. Evelyn avoided Mrs. Weasley's eyes as she pulled her underwear off, careful not to let the shirt ride up, before putting on the pajama pants.

The older woman made a little huff. "Well, I have some and I'll have to insist you use it. They might be almost healed already, but there's no reason not to treat an injury if you can." She left the room and came back with a small container of clear ointment and placed it into the young witch's hesitant hands.

Evelyn breathed an internal sigh of relief after Mrs. Weasley left. She'd been worried that the older woman would have stayed to watch and make sure Evelyn used it.

"Sorry, mums kinda bossy." Ginny said apologetically. She'd been quietly sitting through the entire exchange. Evelyn shrugged. She dabbed some of the ointment on halfheartedly while facing away from her younger friend. "She cares. Honestly I wish I'd had some of this when I first got hurt."

Evelyn took her bra off with the shirt still on, partly because she wasn't comfortable being naked in front of Ginny, same parts or not, and partly to keep the bruises hidden. She felt a bit disgusted, that evidence of the things she did at home had been seen by the outside world.

"Mum can probably send some home with you, she makes it herself so we have plenty." Ginny offered.

"Yeah...that'd be nice. Thanks."

Nothing happened that night, not even on her late night trip to the bathroom. Evelyn was somewhat disappointed, but she tried to shrug it off.

The next day also ended up being uneventful. The twins were held up in their room, occasional minor explosions could be heard and the whole upstairs smelled like gunpowder. Percy was probably taking advantage of the twins being distracted to have some "peace" in his own bedroom.

Evelyn wondered what it was they were up to. They were always doing something, or planning something. Never bored a day in their life as far as she could tell.

With no boys to hang out with, Ron was tagging along with Evelyn and Ginny. They sat in the grass outside. Evelyn thought she'd tell them about Hogwarts, since it was one of their few shared interest (she was not about to try flying with them.)

"Is it true you have to wrestle a troll?" Ron whispered, as if afraid his brothers would suddenly materialize and take the mickey out of him for asking.

"No, really, you should stop believing anything Fred and George say, about anything." She answered. Didn't she go through this with Ginny already?

"Is it true some professors give you detention for not getting the spell right the first time?" Ginny asked.

"And that they brake your wand if you fail a test?" Asked Ron.

"You guys know you can ask Percy these things too right?" Both siblings looked entirely unexcited about that idea.

"But Percy's smart and does every thing he's supposed to. How would he know what they do when your not a good enough wizard?" The young boy said.

"Oh, Ron it's not like that at all, I've failed plenty of tests. The school is there to make you better at magic, not punish you...and the only professor I know mean enough to give you detention for something mental like that is Professor Snape, and even he would probably just prefer to take points."

The boy looked slightly relieved, but not completely. She reached out and to pet his hair, in what was suppose to be a reassuring way. Unsure, Ron smiled back at her.

"I got detention once, from Professor McGonagall, she's head of Gryffindor..." Evelyn began, hoping to give them a better idea of what school was really like. The story entertained them and seem to distract Ron from whatever he was worried about. So she also told a story of someone setting a niffler loose in the Ravenclaw common rooms, a few stories about strange curses she'd seen students throw at each other in the hallways, and some less slightly less interesting things as she ran out of stories. Ron and Ginny listened to each one with with equal enthusiasm. It was a beautiful way to spend an evening. But she was told to be home before dinner, and it didn't look like she was going to see Fred at all before that happened. Evelyn tried to ignore the disappointment she felt settling in her chest.


End file.
